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FIFTY-SEVENTH
ANNUAL REPORT
FOR THE YEAR 1952
fEW YORK
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
1895
FIFTY- SEVENTH
ANNUAL REPORT
FOR THE YEAR 1952
0 East 40th Street, New York 16, N. Y.
HE ZOOLOGICAL PARK
*tmx Park, New York 60, N. Y.
MEMBERSHIP IN THE
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY was founded in 1895 for the
"instruction and recreation of the people" through the estab-
lishment of a Zoological Park, for the promotion of zoology
through exhibition of collections, publication, research and
exploration, and for the conservation of animal life of the
•world. Since 1899 the Zoological Society has directed the
New York Zoological Park and in 1902 it was entrusted with
the management of the New York Aquarium.
Membership is actively invited of all persons who are in-
terested in the objects of the Society and desire to contrib-
ute toward its support .
Annual Membership is $15. Contributing Membership is $25.
These Memberships entitle the holders to Member !s cards and
10 guest tickets of admission to the Zoological Park on pay
days; a copy of the Annual Report; a subscription to Animal
Kingdom, the bi-monthly publication of the Society; privi-
leges of the Library and Members' Lounge in the Administra-
tion Building and to attend all open meetings of the Society.
Tickets to all sections of the Zoological Park for which an
admission charge is made are available, free, to Members up-
on application at the Administration Building in person. Mem-
bers will be taken on "behind the scenes" tours of the Zoo-
logical Park and Aquarium, without charge, on application,
and are entitled to 20% discount on all publications of the
Society. We are advised that Contributing Membership fees
are deductible from income tax within the legal limits.
Life Membership is $300. See By-laws for conversion of
Annual and Contributing to Life Membership. Other classes
of membership are: Patron, $1,000; Associate Founder, $2,500;
Founder, $5,000; Founder in Perpetuity, $10,000; Benefactor,
$25,000.
Applications for membership may be submitted to any of-
ficer of the Society or to the Society's general office at
30 East 40th Street, New York 16, N. Y.
FORM OF BEQUEST
I do hereby give and bequeath to the "New York Zoological
Society," of the City of New York 0
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
Fairfield Osborn
A REPORT of this character would not be complete if it did
not include some perspective of the future. An annual state-
ment, whether it be to members or to shareholders, is not
true to its purpose if it reports only the favorable aspects.
It is a matter of some concern that we have not been able
to advance our building program for the future at a greater
pace. It may be recalled that during the war years, when
new construction was impossible and maintenance was difficult,
the time was used to develop a magnificent, comprehensive
post-war plan including not only the building of the Aquari-
um but a sweeping modernization of the Zoological Park which
would ensure its position as the most beautiful, dramatic and
useful institution of its kind in the world.
In the first years after the war obstacles stood in the
way. Materials continued to be in short supply, and the call
for more housing and other public necessities made it inap-
propriate for us to attempt to do too much too fast. How-
ever, more things were accomplished since the war than some
may realize. New major construction took place in the form
of the modern, popular Great Apes and Penguin Houses. The
Bird House, Small Mammal House and the Pheasant Aviary were
improved and modernized. The outdoor areas about the Ele-
phant House were moatedo The Question House and new Cafe-
teria, both highly successful enterprises, were built. A
number of other smaller installations were constructed, such
as the Platypus ary and the enclosures for otters and raccoons.
All these items in a long list of improvements add up to the
fact that by rigid economy and careful planning the Society
staff has been able to go forward to a certain extent with
our great project for the Park of the Future. This program
is truly an Ocean of Opportunity — for before us there still
lie so many valuable things to be done.
It is somewhat ironical that back in 1899 the Park was
opened with the Reptile and Aquatic Bird Houses, the Flying
Cage, Bear Dens, Wolf and Fox Runs, and a number of paddocks
for bison, deer and other hoofed animals — all built and stock-
ed at a total cost of $250,000. Today remodeling the interior
of the Reptile House alone costs more than half that sum!
It is our obligation to the public to continue to build,
remodel and modernize as we can find the means to do so. All
3
our major exhibition buildings except the Great Apes and Pen-
guin Houses have passed or are approaching the 50-year marke
It is obvious that our institution must seek new revenue
sources o Gifts and legacies can be put to uses that are of
immeasurable value 0 We must find ways to do the things we
see waiting to be done.
More and more the burden of the Parkfs and the Aquarium *s
support must be transferred from the shoulders of the few to
those of the many0 We are confident that we shall be able in
time to realize most of the opportunities presented by our
post-war plans, but it will require resourcefulness combined
with most prudent operation to do so. We were able once
again in 1952 to keep our budget in balance. It is becoming
increasingly more difficult to do this. If any member or
friend of our institution feels that his support is unimpor-
tant to our future, we urge a study of this report in its
relation to the Ocean of Opportunity that lies ahead0
v x &
The major event in our year occurred in December when the
campaign for funds for the new Aquarium was launched. This
largest single pro ject in the history of our institution will
be referred to in some detail later in this report. Public
reaction to the announcement of this campaign has been grati-
fying and encouraging o A great task lies ahead in gaining
the substantial funds that are needed,, Somehow the objec-
tive must be reached, for the plans envisage an institution
of incomparable interest and significance „
Important administrative changes have been made during
the year. The success of any organization rests not only
upon conceptual planning but also upon the degree of compe-
tence with which operations are conducted,. With this in mind
it is extremely gratifying to report the changes that have
taken place in the administration of the Zoological Park as
well as those in the Department of Tropical Research.
The office of Director of the Zoological Park was restor-
ed on July 1, 1952, with the appointment of John Tee- Van to
fill it. Mr. Tee- Van joined the Society as a youth in 1911.
For twenty-six years he worked as an assistant to Dr. Beebe
and in 1942 was made Executive Secretary of the Zoological
Park. His experience, talents and wisdom make him the ob-
vious choice to carry on the work of his first Director, the
late Dr. William T. Hornaday. Sharing his new responsibili-
ty is Dr. Leonard J. Goss, Park Veterinarian since 1939, who
has been appointed Assistant Director.
Dr. William Beebe will continue active work with the So-
ciety as Director Emeritus of the Department of Tropical Re-
search, of which department Miss Jocelyn Crane has been ap-
pointed Assistant Director. Dr. Beebe came to the Zoological
4
Park as it was being constructed, was subsequently appointed
first Curator of Birds, and in 1916 founded the Department
of Tropical Research under whose aegis he has been the leader
of some 51 expeditions .
Lee S. Crandall, who has held the office of General Cura-
tor since 1943, and who has been with the Society for 44 years,
has been made General Curator Emeritus . He will continue his
office at the Zoological Park, where he is now working on a
series of books on the care of wild animals in captivity.
Other appointments include Robert M. McClung as Acting
Curator of Mammals and Birds, Miss Grace Davall as Assistant
Curator of Mammals and Birds, Gordon Cuyler as Administrative
Assistant and Herbert J . Knobloch as Assistant Curator of the
Department of Education.
These staff changes and promotions were accompanied by a
number of other personnel changes throughout the Park, for
1952 saw more retirements among our veteran employees than
any other year in Park history. Our best wishes go to these
loyal ones who have left us after years of devoted service.
Steady progress has been made in operating improvements
in the Zoological Park and several new facilities have been
installed. Abominable weather on most week-ends during the
late spring and early summer cut attendance — a set-back shar-
ed with our comparable sister institutions. This loss in
patronage has been reflected in lower revenues from facili-
ties operations. However, returns on invested funds were
satisfactory and membership dues reached an all-time high.
Memberships showed a net gain for the year, with a continu-
ing trend upward in the new class of Contributing supporters.
* tt «
Opportunity beats a steady tattoo on the doors of the Zo-
ological Society and at the gates of the Zoological Park. We
are answering as many of her calls as our means permit. Every
year finds us facing new challenges and continuing our ac-
ceptance of many of the old ones. We must retain our posi-
tion as leaders in Zoo and Aquarium administration — our first
obligation to the public as well as to ourselves. We must
continue our contribution to knowledge through the superior
work of our scientific staff. We must advance our position
as an educational institution by both broadening and refining
our function as a teaching source, giving more information
with better presentation to more people. We must maintain our
stand for the protection of nature. Lastly, we must steadily
improve our services to the public so that we may hold our
position of leadership among New York's many competing at-
tractions. We can realize the Opportunities in our Ocean
with the sustained confidence and support of our friends .
"There are as big fish in the sea as ever were caught
5
THE ZOOLOGICAL PARK
John Tee- Van, Director
THE ZOOLOGICAL PABK means many things to many people. To
some it is a place where father and the children are sent
while mother prepares Sunday dinner. To others it is a place
where, in pleasing and calm surroundings , they can review a
wonderful representation of the animals that live on the earth
with us. To still others, coming from high schools, colleges
and universities, it offers the living expression of what
would otherwise be static representations in textbooks.
To meet the needs of the people who for myriad reasons
come to the Zoological Park means the establishment and main-
tenance of many services. In this respect the Zoological
Park has often been compared to a small municipality, for
beyond its all-important animal exhibits it contains most of
the basic elements of a small town — banks, transportation
systems, stores, sanitation departments, hospitals and the
like. But, quite apart from these material services, we con-
stantly are made to realize our relation to the sphere of
emotion and the mind.
Unexpectedly the emotional appeal of the Park may come
to light, as when a recent letter, occasioned by the death
of our old Hippopotamus "Pete," revealed that the writer
first had seen Pete in 1904 in Central Park when he was five
days old; since then, for 48 years, our correspondent had
made an annual pilgrimage to see Pete while on visits from
Portland, Maine, to New York! We can only wonderingly sur-
mise how many similar ties exist between our animals, indi-
vidually or as a whole, and members of the public of all
ages .
In the realm of the mind and its manifestations, we are
continually amazed at the questions that come to us — sincere
questions that reveal the curious turns of human thought as
well as the searching interest of human beings in the animal
world. Every question (and sometimes there are silly ones)
is answered seriously and with the realization that we are
expected to be the ultimate answerers ; we are looked upon as
Authority. They may be questions with involved scientific
ramifications, as, "What is the blood pressure of the Gi-
raffe?" Or they may express normal curiosity: "Does a cat
have tonsils?" and "How do Skunks stand each other?" Plain-
tive and most appealing was the concern of a reptile-devoted
6
eight-year-old boy: "I have a pet Blue Racer. He has start-
ed to bite me. I don't mind the bites because they don't
hurt me. But what I want to know is, will the snake be hurt
if he keeps on biting me?"
The Zoological Park's 1952 attendance, 2,270,982, was as
usual the highest among the City's comparable institutions.
Even so this figure, because of very bad weather on week-ends
during the spring, was lower than our average. In this re-
gard, a compilation of attendance records of twenty-four New
York City institutions, including botanical gardens, museums
and zoos, shows a general decline in 1952 and that it was es-
pecially marked among the larger institutions. The average
decrease was 2.8%. While much of the falling off in attend-
ance of the outdoor institutions such as botanical gardens
and the zoos undoubtedly can be attributed to the weather,
the reason for an over-all decrease is not easy to determine.
Certainly the growing popularity of television must be given
consideration.
A newspaper columnist in New York recently stated that
the three most popular aspects of television stand in this
order: sex, animals and children. This locates the animal
world, televisionally speaking, in high but dubious company.
Over the past few years the staff at the Zoological Park has
devoted a great deal of time and thought to television pro-
grams and how best the Society's conception of the animal
world can be expressed through this medium of communication.
In 1950 a series of twenty-six weekly programs was given over
the American Broadcasting Company network, and numerous spot
appearances of animals with members of the staff or keepers
have been provided since then. During 1952 negotiations and
experiments were undertaken with a producing firm, leading
to a pilot film that reasonably expresses our idea of what
an animal program should be like. Such a program, embodying
a proper balance of amusement and education, is a difficult
and costly matter . Animal actors are not amenable to re-
hearsing and persist in going their own way most of the time,
regardless of cues and timing. Hence, the program we envis-
age will be on film, which will obviate one of the major ob-
jections to many animal programs — the dependence on some spe-
cific animal action, whereas in actual fact the animal either
does nothing or the opposite of what is wanted.
Activities of the various animal departments are report-
ed in later pages, but special attention should be called to
a few of the more important. "Herbert," our playful young
Walrus, continues to be a great drawing card. His weight at
the end of the year was logged at 770 pounds. "Dacca," the
magnificent and matronly tigress, produced her sixteenth,
seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth cubs on May 1 — a bal-
anced litter of two males and two females that varied only
one ounce in their weights, from two pounds seven ounces to
7
two pounds eight ounces each. A noteworthy addition to the
Elephant House's family is "Candy," a young female Asiatic
Elephant who upon arrival in August weighed 752 pounds, stood
46 inches high and still had a great deal of her coarse, dark
red, baby hair. Her age was estimated to be approximately
one year. In the Reptile Department the most important ac-
quisition was an 18-inch specimen of a rare and nearly ex-
tinct reptile, the Tuatara. Thereby the Society for the
first time in its history is able to exhibit simultaneously
all four Orders of living reptiles,, The Tuatara, while it
looks like a lizard, is only distantly related to those ani-
mals and, as Dr. Oliver explained in an Animal Kingdom arti-
cle, is a rhynchocephalian, the sole survivor of an order of
reptiles that flourished 150 million years ago and apparent-
ly died out some 75 million years ago. Wolverines, commonly
called Gluttons, now occupy the old Giant Panda quarters, and
are an interesting, lively exhibit well worthy of their beau-
tiful surroundings .
Occasionally the needs of seme of the Zoological Park's
rarities must seem incomprehensible to those not intimately
acquainted with the animals. Thus, in the Large Bird House
it was found necessary to cool the quarters of our humming-
birds during summer time. The principal hummingbirds that
we had been receiving came from the slopes of the Andes, and
New York summers are much too hot for them. The Tuatara al-
so posed a challenge, as this animal requires a temperature
in the order of 50 to 55 degrees . Providing cool quarters
for it also gave us an opportunity to install exhibits for
Salamanders, Axolotls and similar cool-environment animals „
The new moats in the outer yards of the Great Apes House,
redesigned after "Makoko," our large Gorilla, was drowned,
have been a successful undertaking and the Orang-utans, Chim-
panzees and Gorillas appear to be very happy in their new
summer quarters .
The high reputation of the Zoological Society — and this
applies markedly to the Zoological Park and the Aquarium — is
constantly brought to our attention by the inquiries that
come to us for information on zoological societies and how
they should be formed, on zoological parks and how they should
be founded and developed, on research in zoos and aquariums
and on the vast array of technical problems involved in the
operation and construction of aquariums. Correspondence
about such matters is extensive and conferences numerous.
Furthering our interests beyond our immediate borders,
the Society has enabled its staff officers to attend meet-
ings of other organizations and to prosecute studies outside
their own laboratories. Among these activities were:
1. In September six members of the staff , Messrs . Atz, Bridges,
Coates, Crandall, Goss and Tee-Van, attended one or more
8
meetings of the American Association of Zoological Parks
and Aquariums and the Institute of Park Executives at
their Montreal meeting. Our close association with of-
ficers of other zoos and aquariums has been well foster-
ed.
2. Doctors Nigrelli and Gordon of the Aquarium staff present-
ed papers before the Society of Protozoologists of the
American Society of Zoologists at the annual meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science
held in Philadelphia.
3. Dr. Goss attended the Annual Conference for Veterinarians
at the New York State Veterinary College at Cornell Uni-
versity on January 9 to 11.
4. Dr. Myron Gordon went to Calif ornia to discuss the comple-
tion of a book on the fishes of northeastern Mexico and
then to Mexico for the collection of fishes from the
state of Tabasco.
5. Curator-Aquarist Coates attended the first annual meeting
of the Northeast Sections of the American Fisheries So-
ciety, the International Association of Game, Fish and
Conservation Commissioners and the Wildlife Society,
held April 1 to 4 at Jacksoncs Mill, Weston, West Vir-
ginia.
6. Various members of the Aquarium staff attended the forty-
third annual meeting of the American Association for
Cancer Research, and presented three papers.
7. Mr. Bridges, Curator of Publications and Photography, and
Mr. Dunton, Staff Photographer, spent three weeks at
Dr. Beebe's laboratory at Simla, Trinidad, to make a
motion picture showing the field activities of the De-
partment of Tropical Research and to bring back reptiles
and other animals to the Park.
8. Curator Coates attended the annual meeting of the Federa-
tion of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
9. Dr. Gordon participated in the sixth annual symposium on
Fundamental Cancer Research in Houston, Texas, where he
also spoke to the Houston Aquarium Society.
10. Dr. Nigrelli spent one month at the Lerner Marine Labora-
tory in Bimini in the British West Indies, studying
tumors of fishes and testing various newly-developed
helminthicides .
11. Dr. Goss attended the annual convention of the American
Veterinary Medical Associetion in Atlantic City on
June 23 to 26.
12. Doctors Nigrelli and Gordon attended the meetings of the
American Institute of Biological Sciences at Cornell
University in August.
13. Dr. Nigrelli attended the meeting of the Atlantic Fish-
eries Biologists at Kenyon, Rhode Island, in Septem-
ber .
9
Numerous research activities of the staff members will
be found detailed in the reports of the departments. Special
mention should be made, however, of the first-rate research-
educational motion picture, "The Locomotion of Snakes," pro-
duced by Dr. Oliver. This is the first of a series. It
brings out most vividly the four types of locomotion utiliz-
ed by snakes to progress on land or water or through trees,
and through X-ray photography settles once and for all the
question whether the ribs are used in locomotion by snakes
which progress by the rectilinear or caterpillar method.
Research on animal behavior in the Zoological Park con-
tinues under the supervision of Dr. John Quaranta, Research
Associate. It is hoped that this most interesting field of
research will be expanded in scope and activities in the near
future .
Visitors to the Zoological Park of special note were Lord
Willingdon, President of the Fauna Preservation Society, and
Lady Willingdon; Dr. Van Straelen, President of the Institute
of National Parks of the Belgian Congo and Director of the
Royal Museum of Natural History of Belgium; Dr. Grzimek, Di-
rector of the Frankfort Zoo; and Captain Cousteau, who has
been doing such remarkable undersea work.
A luncheon of fellow sculptors and members of the staff
was held to honor Mrs . Anna Hyatt Huntington on the occasion
of the opening of her animal sculpture show in the Heads and
Horns Museum.
The Society was host to forty members of a UNESCO Semi-
nar Group devoted to the "Role of Education in Museums" at a
dinner and meeting at the Zoological Park.
The Zoological Park Council, the organization of elected
representatives of employees of the various departments and
staff officers which meets bi-weekly to discuss the opera-
tion of the Park and its personnel problems, continues to
function exceptionally well. Of prime importance among mat-
ters in 1952 that were originated, discussed and prosecuted
by the Council was coverage as of January 1 of Group life
Insurance for Society employees. The Society's acceptance
of its share of the cost of this insurance is a forward step
in our personnel relations and one that has been much appre-
ciated by the employees who had signified their desire to
contribute toward this type of insurance.
The Zoological Park's Safety Committee has functioned ex-
tremely well during the past year and is a potent factor in
reducing accidents . The sky-rocketing costs of insurance
make the Committee's work of even greater importance than
heretofore o Its recommendations and suggestions have been
given first priority for accomplishment.
The past year saw the largest number of retirements in
any one year of the Society ss history. Nineteen employees
and staff officers, all of them covered by Social Security
10
and many by both pension and Social Security, left our serv-
ices . The major retirement was that of our General Curator,
Lee S. Crandall, who will now have an opportunity to develop
much needed publications on the care of wild animals in cap-
tivity. Other changes in responsibilities and titles were
the re-establishment of the title of Director and the appoint-
ment of Dr. Leonard J. Goss to the new post of Assistant Di-
rector; a number of other changes will be found in the list-
ing of staff. The exceptionally large number of retirements
represented employees of advanced age who entered our serv-
ice during the war years. Being unable because of age to
enter the Pension Fund, they were retained in service until
they could be covered by Social Security.
A new post, that of Assistant Veterinarian, was filled
on January 1 by Dr. Charles P. Gandal. This enables Dr.
Leonard J. Goss, Assistant Director and Veterinarian, to func-
tion on a more extended basis and provides for the continu-
ation and elaboration of research in the Animal Hospital.
"Zoolog, n the Zoological Park's employee newspaper, under
the editorship of Gordon Cuyler, Administrative Assistant,
with sub-editors from various departments, continues to func-
tion as an excellent medium for keeping our employees inform-
ed as to what is happening in the Park. News of the acqui-
sition of new animals, their removal from one place to an-
other, the setting up of new rules and regulations, and so
on, is thus immediately made known to all our employees. They
are expected to be aware of such matters, and obviously this
is of value to visitors , who are likely to depend on uniform-
ed employees for information about exhibits .
Major construction during the year consisted of the re-
roofing of the Reptile House at a cost of $87,000, paid from
the capital budget of the City of New York. In the north-
eastern corner of the Park a new parking field is almost com-
pleted and will be ready for operation in the early spring
of 1953. This field, with entrance and exit roads connect-
ing with the Bronx fiiver Parkway, will form an important
element in our services to the public. When in operation,
it will be connected with the rest of the Park through our
Tractor Train system. The new Cafeteria, opened a few weeks
before the beginning of the year, has functioned splendidly.
11
THE ANIMAL DEPARTMENTS
MAMMALS AND BIRDS
Lee S. Crandall, General Curator (January 1 to July 31, 1952)
Robert M. McClung, Acting Curator, Mammals and Birds
(since August 1, 1952)
Grace Davall, Assistant Curator, Mammals and Birds
August Schilling, Head Keeper of Mammals
George Scott, Head Keeper of Birds
AS IN THE PAST several years, the problems of securing out-
standing new exhibits and replacing normal losses continue to
mount in difficulty. With great areas of the world cut off
from exchange or collecting because of the political situa-
tion, with ever-mounting costs of transportation, and with
severe government restrictions on the importation of various
groups of animals, more emphasis must gradually be placed on
the breeding of replacements and the securing of new specimens
by exchanges with other zoological parks. In spite of the
difficulties, a number of rare and outstanding new specimens
were secured during the past year.
With the adoption of a shorter work week on October 1,
1952, it was necessary to employ additional keepers — two for
the Mammal Department and one for the Bird Department.
From September 15 to 18, General Curator Emeritus Lee S.
Crandall attended the annual meeting of the American Institute
of Park Executives in Montreal, where he gave a report on
European zoos visited in 1951, as well as a summary on the
1951 meeting of the International Union of Directors of Zoo-
logical Parks, held in Amsterdam.
At the Montreal meeting, the American Association of Zoo-
logical Parks and Aquariums presented Mr. Crandall with a
written testimonial "in recognition of the great collections
he formed at the New York Zoological Park as Curator of Birds
and as General Curator; for his many contributions to the art
and practice of exhibiting wild animals; and in appreciation
of him as a friend and collaborator." Since his retirement
as General Curator in July, Mr . Crandall has continued active-
ly at the Park, engaged in the preparation of a series of
books on the care of captive wild animals .
MAMMALS - Births in the collection numbered 87, of which 68
were still living on December 31. These represented 30 dif-
12
ferent forms as follows: 1 Guinea Baboon, 1 Uele Colobus, 3
Common Marmosets, 1 Black- tailed Marmoset, 1 Slow Loris, 2
Patagonian Cavies, 4 Bengal Tigers, 1 Northern Rocky Mountain
Wolf, IGayal, 3 Mouflon, 4 Aoudad, 1 Blue Duiker, 1 Chestnut
Duiker, 4Nyalas, 1 Eland, 4 Blackbuck, 3 Guanacos, 3 Reeves's
Muntjac, 3 Axis Deer, 3 Red Deer, 2 Fallow Deer, 2 Barasingha
Deer, 2 Indian Sambar Deer, 1 Formosan Deer, 1 Dybowski's
Deer, 5 Sika Deer, 2 Pere David's Deer, 1 Chinese Water Deer,
4 White-tailed Deer, 3 Elk.
Besides births, a total of 50 other arrivals were record-
ed— 26 purchases, 22 gifts, and two collected.
Outstanding among the purchases were four European Wol-
verine cubs, collected in Finnish Lapland, and received here
in May when they were approximately three months old. These
four, consisting of a male and three females, weighed only
six to eight pounds each upon arrival and still retained their
short woolly first coats. Purchased to establish an outstand-
ing new exhibit in our former Giant Panda moated area, since
there is little likelihood of our soon securing another Giant
Panda, the Wolyerines have flourished and have now attained
practically adult size. Their weights ranged from 25 to 38
pounds on September 13, the last weighing.
A year-old, 752-pound female Asiatic Elephant from Siam>
was purchased in August, and proved to be an instant success
with the public. Because of housing difficulties, "Candy,"
as she has been named, was first quartered in the Antelope
House. On December 18 she was moved to the Elephant House,
her permanent residence. It is planned to use her as a rid-
ing elephant when she is old enough, probably in 1954, as
"Burma" was used, to the delight of thousands of children, in
1942.
Other important additions included the purchase of a pair
of young Grant Zebras, a form which has not been represented
in our collections since 1944. A year-old male Sable Ante-
lope was secured to replace our fine specimen which died in
September .
"Herbert," our young Atlantic Walrus, continues to be one
of the most popular and endearing animals in the Zoo. Born
in the spring of 1951, "Herbert's" daily consumption of fish
has been increased from 12 pounds, soon after arrival, to 40
pounds in December, 1952. His weight was 770 pounds at the
end of 1952, an increase of 490 pounds in slightly more than
a year.
Interesting as a "first" in the New York Zoological Park,
and in any zoo, as far as we know, was the birth in September
of a Uele Colobus monkey, as reported in the November-Decem-
ber issue of "Animal Kingdom." The youngster continues to
flourish and is rapidly assuming the striking black and white
pelage of its parents, in contrast to its all-white natal
coat.
13
Four species of Primates which we had never before ex-
hibited were acquired during the year. One of these was a
Dusky Titi Monkey, Callicebus ustofuscus . The other three
"firsts" were marmosets — a Black-faced White Marmoset, Mico
melanoleucus ; two Red-mantled Marmosets, Mystax lagonotus ;
and a Pied Marmoset, Mystax bi color . We had 24 marmosets of
14 different species at the end of the year.
Several important losses were suffered in the mammal col-
lection during the past year. Our old Okapi, received here
CENSUS OF MAMMALS
December 31, 1952
Orders Species Specimens
MONOTREMATA
Platypus and Echidnas 2 3
MARSUPIALIA
Kangaroos, Opossums, etc 11 20
INSECTIVORA
Moles, Shrews, Hedge-
hogs, etc 2 2
PRIMATES
Apes, Baboons, Monkeys,
Lemurs, etc 56 99
EDENTATA
Armadillos, Sloths
and Anteaters 2 3
LAG0MORPHA
Rabbits and Hares 1 1
RODENTIA
Squirrels, Marmots,
Beavers, etc 16 30
CARNIVORA
Cats, Dogs, Bears, etc 31 80
PINNIPEDIA
Sea Lions, Walruses,
Seals 4 9
PROBOSCIDEA
Elephants 3 5
PERISSODACTYLA
Rhinoceroses, Horses,
Tapirs 6 9
ARTIODACTYLA
Hippopotamuses , Camels ,
Deer, Cattle, etc _59 301
Totals 193 562
Summary: Orders, 12; Species, 193; Specimens, 562
14
in August, 1937, was finally dispatched September 5, 1952,
because of a crippling arthritic condition in his forelegs.
Our Kiang, or Tibetan Wild Ass, a zoo resident since 1929,
had to be destroyed on November 25 when it was found with
multiple fractures of two legs.
Our pair of Mountain Tapirs, the first and only ones in
captivity, both died during the year. The male, received in
June, 1952, lived only four and a half months, dying November
2, 1952. The female, received November 26, 1950, survived
more than two years and died on December 8, 1952, from tuber-
culosis. It is hoped that we can eventually secure one or
more of these rare animals again.
Our magnificent bull African Forest Elephant, estimated
to have been born in 1932, had become increasingly dangerous
and unpredictable as he matured, a condition which zoo after
zoo has experienced with captive male elephants. Finally,
with reluctance, it was decided that the safety of keepers
and public demanded that he be destroyed. This was accom-
plished in November, 1952.
During the year 19 surplus mammals were sold for a total
of $6,830.
BIRDS - No new installations for birds were constructed dur-
ing 1952. However, the entire interior of the Ostrich House
was repainted in accord with the fresh and attractive new
color scheme which is gradually being applied to the entire
Park0
Arrivals totalled 232 specimens, of which 105 were ac-
quired by purchase, 101 by gift and two by exchange, while
nine were collected by members of the department and 15 were
hatched in the Park.
The most important group arrival was the purchase in June
of 27 Ecuadorian birds of 23 species, collected by Charles
Cordier. Thirteen of these birds were firsts to our collec-
tions. The most rare and unusual specimens were a White-
backed Dipper, an Ocellated Tapaculo and a fine specimen of
the Eastern Giant Hummingbird, a species which attains a
length of 85- inches and which had never before been exhibit-
ed, to our knowledge.
Following is the complete list of forms acquired in 1952
which have proved to be new to our collections:
Train-bearing Hermit - Phaethornis syrmatophorus syrmatoph-
orus Gould
Blue-headed Sapphire - Hylocharis grayi grayi (De Lattre &
Bourcier)
Northern Giant Hummingbord - Patagona gigas peruviana Boucard
Shining Sunbeam - Aglaeactis cupnpennis cupripennis (Bour-
cier)
Parduzaki's Sun Angel - Heliangelus exortis (Fraser)
15
Broad-billed Motmot - Electron platyrhynchum platyrhynchum
(Leadbeater)
Giant Ant-pitta - Grallaria gigantea gigantea Lawrence
Ecuadorean Ocellated Tapaculo - Acropterms orthonyx infus-
cata (Salvadori & Festa)
Black-winged Water-tyrant - Fluvicola c lima z ura atripennis
Sclater
White-backed Dipper - Cinclus leucocephalus leuconotus Scla-
ter
Black- capped Wren - Thryothorus nigricapillus nigricapillus
Sclater
Bairdfs Warbler - Myi oborus melanocephalus bairdi Salvin
Heck!s Grass Finch - Poephila acuticauda hecki Heinroth
Black-billed Giant Cacique - Psarocolius angustifrons angus-
frons (Spix)
Vassori?s Calliste - Tangara vassorii vassorii (Boissonneau)
Ecuadorean Slate-colored Seedeater - Sporophila" schistacea
incerta Riley
Especially noteworthy arrivals included a pair of Palawan
Peacock Pheasants, bought in July, and a male Wilson's Bird
of Paradise, purchased from the Rotterdam Zoo in August. This
is the first specimen of this strange and beautiful little
Bird of Paradise we have exhibited in many years. Late in the
year a splendid Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeyer, and a Pondi-
cherry Vulture were secured from Zoo Wassenaar, Holland.
Among the many additions to our large and varied water-
fowl collection are an Indian Spot-billed Duck and a pair each
of Chestnut-breasted Teal, Bahama Duck and European Shelduck.
"During the month of September, a number of Mallards and
Black Ducks were found dead or dying of botulism in our ponds
and streams. These were practically all wild, full-winged
individuals which had evidently picked up this deadly bacter-
ial infection elsewhere and then flown to our ponds . Our own
waterfowl were comparatively unaffected until late September
when, through a severe local infection, we rapidly lost a
pair of Mute Swans, with their three cygnets, as well as a
Black-necked Swan. Various other birds were affected, but
survived.
Our pair of European Cranes hatched and reared a young
bird on the African Plains, the first instance of this species
successfully rearing an offspring in the Park.
16
CENSUS OF BIRDS
December 31, 1952
Orders Species Specimens
S TRUTHI ONI FORMES
Ostriches , 1 1
RHEI FORMES
Rheas 2 3
CASU.*PJIFOKMES
Cassowaries and Emus 2 3
TINAMIFORMES
Tinamous 1 1
SPHENISCIFORMES
Penguins 7 18
PELECANI FORMES
Pelicans, Cormorants, etc 7 17
CICONIIFORMES
Herons, Ibises, Storks,
Flamingos, etc 28 58
ANSERIFORMES
Swans, Ducks, Geese
and Screamers . f 66 410
FALCONIFORMES
Vultures, Hawks and Eagles 24 28
GALLIFORMES
Quail, Pheasants, etc 46 120
GRUIFORMES
Hemipodes, Cranes, Trumpet-
ers, Rails, etc 23 49
CHARADRIIFORMES
Plovers, Sandpipers,
Gulls, etc 13 36
COLUMBIFORMES
Pigeons, Doves and Sandgrouse 33 79
PSITTACIFORMES
Parrots, etc 22 32
CUCULIFORMES
Touracos and Cuckoos 5 7
STRIGIFORMES
Owls 9 15
APODIFORMES
Hummingbirds 5 10
COLIIFORMES
Colies 1 1
17
Orders Species Specimens
TROGONI FORME S
Trogons and Quetzals 1 3
CORACIIFORMES
Kingfishers, Hornbills,
etc 11 11
PICIFORMES
Barbets, Toucans and
Woodpeckers 27 36
PA SSERI FORMES
Perching Birds 207 461
Totals 541 1,399
Summary: Orders, 22; Species, 541; Specimens, 1,399
18
DEPARTMENT OF REPTILES
James A. Oliver, Curator
Fred Taggart, Head Keeper
THE YEAR 1952 in this department was highlighted by a new rec-
ord in the history of our exhibition program. For the first
time since the Zoological Park opened in 1899 we were able
to exhibit all of the orders of living reptiles. This record
was made possible by the acquisition of our first live Tua-
tara, the sole survivor of an order of reptiles that flour-
ished more than 150 million years ago. Other milestones of
lesser note were passed during the year, but on the whole, it
was largely a period of operation under the difficulties of
construction activities in the Reptile House.
Our Tuatara is one of three specimens sent to American
zoological parks as a gift from the Government of New Zealand.
The arrival of these three individuals at the San Diego Zoo,
the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, and at our Zoological Park
marked the first occasion in the past twenty-five years that
this rare reptile has been exhibited by a zoo in this coun-
try. The Tuatara, scientifically known as Sphenodon puncta-
tus, survives today only on a few small, rocky islets off the
coast of New Zealand. The animal was so close to extinction
that the Government of New Zealand has rigidly protected it
and has not allowed any specimens to be exported in the last
quarter of a century. The reptile has responded to the pro-
tective measures and appears to be increasing in numbers .
Encouraged by this, the Government has allowed four speci-
mens to be sent out, more or less on a trial basis. The
fourth individual was sent to the London Zoo.
Needless to say, we hope that this experiment will prove
highly successful and that all four will live to a ripe old
age in their new homes. Our specimen appears to be comfort-
ably settled in the specially constructed enclosure where it
lives under temperature conditions approximating those of its
native island home.
The name of this department was officially changed back
to its original designation, the Department of Reptiles. This
is more in keeping with the functions of the department and
the training of the staff. The two popular insect exhibits,
the Bee Tree and Parasol Ant Colony, are still maintained in
the lobby of the Reptile House.
The major construction operations included the removal
19
of the old roof and the installation of a new roof. The
scheduled operations were to extend from March until August,
involving the warmer part of the year. However, the prolong-
ed steel strike and contractor^ errors delayed the comple-
tion of the job until the end of the year. Thus throughout
most of the year the reptile collection was maintained and
exhibited under considerable difficulties. The fact that we
were able to maintain it under these trying conditions is
attributable primarily to the foresight and extra care given
by the Keepers . r
Now that work on the new roof has been completed, we are
ready to begin remodeling the interior of the building. This
will involve a complete renovation of cages and pools in the
main section of the Reptile House. It will include an in-
crease and improvement in the exhibition areas, as well as
modern provisions for maintaining a large and diverse col-
lection of reptiles. Laboratory space for research on rep-
tiles is included in the plans . The final architectural
specifications for the renovation program are virtually com-
pleted and it is anticipated that work will begin early in
March. The Reptile House will be closed during the spring
months, but it is hoped that the work can be completed in
time to reopen the building early in the summer. The planned
renovation will vastly alter the appearance of the interior,
so that the reopened Reptile House will be virtually a new
building. A larger and more varied collection of reptiles,
housed in attractively lighted cages, will await the visitor
on the date of reopening.
Two important construction projects of a smaller scale
were the refrigeration unit of cages for the Tuatara and the
snake photography arena. The refrigeration unit consists of
a large, insulated enclosure in which are located the cage
for the Tuatara and seven small cages for salamanders that
require cool temperatures. The animals in this unit make an
attractive exhibit and show the public some of the seldom
seen but common amphibians .
The snake photography arena provides a permanent instal-
lation wherein movies and still photographs of snakes and
other large reptiles can be made under simulated natural con-
ditions at all times of the year. The arena is so designed
that large venomous snakes can be photographed in safety. It
has already proved its value, since most of the scenes in
the movie on the "Locomotion of Snakes" were filmed in this
arena .
REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS - Because of the pending plans to ren-
ovate the interior of the Reptile House, no attempt was made
to expand the collection. However, during the year there was
an over-all increase in the total number of species and spec-
imens on hand. A sizeable exhibition stock was maintained
20
and a number of unusual and rare species were added. Fore-
most among these is the already mentioned Tuatara that we
exhibited for the first time in our history. Other species
that were new to our collections include the Cuban Giant Ano-
les, the Paraguayan Caiman, the Gray Monitor, the Ladder
Snake, the Crossed Pit Viper and Hermann !s Tortoise. In ad-
dition to these forms, a number of outstanding "old friends"
were shown after absences of several years „ High on the list
in this group are: Paradox Frogs, Broad-nosed Crocodile,
Slender-snouted Crocodile, Alligator Snapping Turtles (one
weighing 85 pounds) and Spiny-legged Dabb Lizards.
During the year we received 321 specimens as gifts, 118
on exchange and 103 through purchase.
In the same period we sent out some 136 specimens on the
exchanges mentioned above. Gifts and exchanges during the
past year involved the following institutions in the United
States: the American Museum of Natural History, University
of Colorado Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, Philadelphia Zoo, San
Diego Zoo, Staten Island Zoo and Trailside Museum at Bear
Mountain Park. Foreign individuals and institutions that
participated in gifts or exchanges to the Zoological Park
during the past year were: Cap Ferrat Vivarium, France; Dr.
Popp, Dessau, Germany; Instituto Butantan, Sao Paulo, Brazil;
Royal Zoological Society of Ireland; Lt. Colonel J.S. Wilkins,
England; and the Tel-Aviv Zoological Gardens, Israel.
CENSUS OF REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
December 31, 1952
Orders Species Specimens
AMPHIBIA
CAUDA TA
Salamanders „ . . . o «, „ 5 15
SALIENTTA
Frogs and Toads . ... , 15 30
REP IT LI A
CR0C0DILIA
Alligators and Crocodiles 7 33
RHYNCOCEPHALIA
Tuatara „ . . . . 1 1
SQUAMA TA
Lizards 21 37
Snakes 60 113
TESTUDINATA
Turtles and Tortoises _46 205
Totals 155 434
Summary: Orders, 6; Species, 155; Specimens, 434
21
Research work carried on in the Department involved a
variety of subjects, from snake venoms to growth in caimans.
A number of these projects were pursued in co-operation with
other departments and institutions. In several instances we
supplied the materials for specific investigations that were
undertaken elsewhere. This work included studies in anatomy,
animal behavior, neurology, parasitology, pathology and se-
rology.
A program of research on snake venoms was initiated in
co-operation with Drs . Goss and Gandal of the Animal Hospital.
This work was carried out at Fordham University in labora-
tory space kindly made available to us by the Rev. J. Frank-
lin Ewing, S.J., and the Rev. Eugene A. Gisel, S.J. The first
phases involve an analysis of different techniques of handling
venoms, the visible hemolytic effects of Cottonmouth venom,
and the relative effectiveness of cortisone, antihistamine
and antivenin in the treatment of snakebite. An article ap-
peared in number four of Copeia for 1952 on "Antivenin Avail-
able for the Treatment of Snakebite" by James A. Oliver and
Leonard J. Goss.
The Curator of Reptiles spent a good deal of time in co-
operation with Staff Photographer Sam Dunton and Curator of
Publications William Bridges on the preparation of an educa-
tional motion picture on the locomotion of snakes. This is
the first in a planned series of scientific educational films
on living reptiles. Much of the photography was done in the
newly constructed snake photography arena. Through the gen-
erosity of Dr. James S. Watson, Jr., the wonderful facilities
of the Department of Radiology at the University of Rochester
Medical School were made available for the analysis of one
type of snake locomotion. Dr. Oliver and Mr. Dunton journey-
ed to Rochester to get the first X-ray motion pictures ever
made of a snake performing the rectilinear or caterpillar
type of locomotion. Dr. Watson and Mr. Sydney Weinberg re-
corded the details of this type of locomotion on their giant
cinefluoro graphic camera and provided us with the X-ray foot-
age used in our completed film on locomotion.
Dr. Oliver published four articles in Animal Kingdom dur-
ing the year. These were:
"What Is It? Animal? Vegetable? Mineral?" (on the Matamata
Turtle). Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 10-12.
"Our New Giant Toad is a New Species." Vol. 55, No. 1, p„ 25.
"Frogs as Friends of Man." Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 38-45.
"The Prevention and Treatment of Snakebite „ " Vol. 55, No. 3,
pp. 66-83.
The last of these articles, expanded slightly with ad-
ditional material and illustrations, has been published as a
special publication on sale by the Society. Since the article
22
stresses prevention, it is hoped that it will have a wide
distribution among those who spend much time out of doors.
During the year Dr. Oliver presented lectures on snakes
to the Bronx Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America,
Beech Hill School in Yonkers, Walter Stillman School in Ten-
afly, the Exchange Club of Yonkers and the Adirondack Moun-
tain Club. He participated in the annual "Zooquiz" of the
Bronx Rotary Club and gave four lectures in the In-Service
Teachers Course at the Zoological Park. An informal discus-
sion of snake venoms was presented to the Physiology Seminar
at Columbia University Medical School.
23
ANIMAL HOSPITAL
Leonard J. Goss, Assistant Director; Veterinarian
Charles P. Gandal, Assistant Veterinarian
BOTULISM HAS BEEN KNOWN as a disease of man since 1870. The
causative agent, a poison liberated by bacteria, has been re-
covered from hams, sausage and other meat products and from
canned vegetables. The organism is commonly present in the
soil in all parts of the world. The toxin develops in con-
taminated, imperfectly sterilized foods only in the absence
of air.
Since about 1918 the disease has been recognized in ani-
mals. In 1932 it was estimated that a quarter of a million
ducks died of the disease at the northern end of Great Salt
Lake alone.
For a number of years botulism occurred in the Park during
the hot, dry, summer months. By preventing the accumulation
of algae and other organic material and keeping fresh water
running through our ponds and lakes, we are generally able to
avoid the disease. Its explosive character is a constant
threat, however.
In the latter part of the past summer numerous dead and
dying wild ducks were found on lakes and ponds in the Zoologi-
cal Park. These birds suffered from botulism and apparently
had ingested botulinus toxin-laden water in lakes outside our
boundaries. No cases occurred in birds living on Park lakes „
Suddenly on September 21 a family of three Mute Swan cygnets ,
their parents, a Black Swan and a Black -necked Swan came down
with the disease. The Mute Swans all died within twenty-four
hours and the Black -necked Swan a few days later. While many
other birds were exposed to the same water, none was affected.
It is reasonable to assume that the toxin emanated from organic
material in the bottom of the lake, and in all probability the
habit of swans of feeding off the bottom of lakes and ponds
accounts for their deaths. The diagnosis of botulism was con-
firmed by mouse inoculation.
The American Institute of Biological Sciences of the Na-
tional Research Council is preparing a "Handbook of Biological
Data" which will report the nutrient requirements of as many
animal and plant forms as possible . Dr. Gandal andMr. McClung,
with the assistance of the keepers, prepared data on the kinds
and amounts of foods eaten by 72 different Zoo animals of 19
Orders. This material will be included in the Handbook.
24
The Atomic Energy Laboratories at Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
requested certain bones from elephants and giraffes. Fortu-
nately for them we were able to accommodate them with the
elephant bones , following an autopsy of a young Indian Ele-
phant belonging to an animal importer.
Dr. Gandal instituted investigation designed to develop
more satisfactory anesthetics for birds.
In collaboration with Dr0 Oliver and with the facilities
of Fordham University, research was started on therapeutic and
diagnostic measures for snake bite poisoning.
Two trials were made with the oral administration of stil-
besterol to control sexual activity in male animals, one with
the African Elephant and the other with a Rhesus Monkey. Both
trials were successful from the standpoint of controlling sex
drive, but had no effect in curtailing acts of violence. The
elephant, imported in 1946 at an estimated age of 14 years,
continued to be a source of danger to the Park personnel and
public and was dispatched on November 14. At that time he
weighed 6,600 pounds.
Several X-rays were made demonstrating the presence of
feti in the oviduct of a Cottonmouth Moccasin and a Red Rat-
tlesnake. These pictures were of value to the Reptile Depart-
ment for its production of motion pictures of the birth of
snakes .
Bone pinning equipment was procured for use in repair of
fractures. Several cases, which otherwise would have neces-
sitated amputation, made excellent recoveries as a result
the installation of metal pins in the fractured bones.
The male Okapi received in August, 1937, was euthanized on
September 5. This rare and beautiful animal — the first ever
exhibited in America — was incapacitated by arthritis to such
a degree that he could no longer be kept on exhibition.
The young male Mountain Tapir received June 19, 1952, died
of enteritis on November 2 , and the female, in the collection
since November 26, 1950, died of tuberculosis on December 8.
Late in 1951 the old cow Moose developed an infection of
the right foot which slowly responded to surgery and intra-
venous administration of sulf apyridine and aureomycin and
penicillin intramuscularly. Early in June of 1952 she began
to fail and died on the 15th of the month of a chronic pneu-
monia secondary to the foot infection. It is believed she
established a longevity record for Moose in captivity (Octo-
ber 17, 1942, to June 15, 1952).
A paper, "Available Antivenins f or the Treatment of Snake-
bite," under the joint authorship of James A. Oliver and
Leonard J. Goss, appeared in the last issue of "Copeia" for
1952.
A new co-operative research project concerned with human
arterio-sclerosis was instituted with Dr. Theodore D. Conn
of the Messinger Research laboratories, Beth-El Hospital,
25
Brooklyn. Determinations are being made of the cholesterol
and lipoproteins of the blood of turtles. A corollary study
of blood calcium and phosphorus is also being made.
Dr. Charles P. Gandal, a 1951 graduate of the New York
State Veterinary College at Cornell University, joined the
Hospital staff as Assistant Veterinarian on January 10
On May 8, Mrs. Martina Twigg assumed the duties of labo-
ratory technician and Registered Nurse in charge of first aid.
During the year the First Aid service handled 2,254 cases.
The employees1 blood bank provided eleven pints of blood for
three employees or members of their immediate families.
Miss Nancy Roper, Hospital secretary for nine years, re-
signed in June at the tine of her marriage.
The Veterinarian attended the following meetings:
American Veterinary Medical Association Convention.
Annual Conference for Veterinarians, Cornell Univer-
sity.
Regional Meeting of American Animal Hospital Associ-
ation.
Annual Meeting of the American Association of Zoologi-
cal Parks and Aquariums .
Papers and lectures were given before these groups:
Passaic, New Jersey, Rotary Club.
Men!s Club of Central Presbyterian Church, New York
City.
Annual Meeting of Veterinary Medical Association of
New Jersey.
On May 16, Globe Photos, Inc., took pictures of our veter-
inary activities for a feature article in "People and Places,"
the publication of the DeSoto-Plymouth Automobile Dealers.
The September 27, 1952, issue of "The New Yorker" carried a
popular piece on the Animal Hospital and Laboratory.
Fifty specimens were dispatched to other research insti-
tutions with which we collaborated. An additional 59 speci-
mens— 22 mammals and 37 birds — went to the American Museum
of Natural History.
Birds hospitalized during the year numbered 40 for 529
hospital days. One hundred and fifty-one mammals were accom-
modated for 3,729 hospital days.
The mortality tables following require some explanation.
"Total in Collection" is arrived at by adding to the census
at the beginning of the year all animals acquired by purchase,
exchange, gift or born alive. Animals disposed of alive by
sale or exchange during the year are not deducted. Contrary
to the policy of some zoological gardens, no acclimatization
period following birth or arrival is allowed.
26
MORTALITY TABLES FOR 1952
MAMMALS
Total in
Mortality
Year
Collection
Died
Percentage
1952
686
119
17.34
1951
691
104
15.05
1950
697
117
16.78
1949
721
115
15.95
1948
660
95
14.39
Totals
3455
550
Average mortality for past 5 years: 15.91
Average mortality for past 16 years: 19.36
BIRDS
Total in
Mortality
Year
Collection
Died
Percentage
1952
1586
279
17.59
1951
1617
250
15.46
1950
1816
283
15.58
1949
1645
248
15.07
1948
1763
261
14.80
Totals
8427
1321
Average mortality for past 5 years: 15.67
Average mortality for past 16 years: 15.94
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
John V. Quaranta, Research Associate
RESEARCH IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, previously confined largely to ■
the summer months, was placed on a year-'round although part-
time basis at the beginning of 1952 with the appointment of
Dr. John V. Quaranta as Research Associate in Animal Behavior.
While sharing his time with Manhattan College, where he
is a member of the faculty in psychology, Dr. Quaranta was
able to initiate a wide program of co-operation with other
institutions, to prepare a proposal for long-term research
for which a grant-in-aid will be sought and to carry to com-
pletion one major research project and to do preliminary
work on another.
CO-OPERATION IN RESEARCH - The principle of engaging labora-
tories and institutions with allied interests in co-opera-
tive studies of animal behavior in the Zoological Park was
established several years ago by Dr. C.R. Carpenter, Co-or-
dinator of Animal Behavior Research Programs for the Zoolog-
ical Society, and has been fostered by Dr. J. P. Scott of the
Jackson Memorial Laboratory of Bar Harbor, Maine, who has
been consulted on certain phases of our work. Furthering
that principle, discussions were held during the past year
with the Rev. Franklin Ewing, S.J., Director of Research at
Fordham University. Students in the biology and psychology
departments of Manhattan College were given facilities for
short-term behavior studies in the Zoological Park. Under
the direction of Brother Cyprian James, F.S.C., chairman of
the biology department of Manhattan College, two colonies of
rats were established in the biology laboratories for pilot
studies in animal behavior.
Dr. Anne Anastasi, Professor of Psychology at Fordham
University, was given a small grant by the Zoological Soci-
ety and the Jackson Memorial Laboratory for making statisti-
cal computations of learning data in dogs. The data were
provided by Dr. Scott.
RESEARCH PROGRAM AND PROPOSAL - A request for funds that would
permit the establishment of a full-time behavior research
program in the Zoological Park and co-operating institutions
was prepared by Dr. Quaranta after conferences with Drs . Car-
penter and Scott. The request was submitted to the National
28
Institute of Mental Health of the Federal Security Agency at
the end of the year.
SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM - Prof. Julian Melhado of Western
College, Ohio, was appointed Suriner Research Fellow. During
the summer he investigated maze learning in lizards, complex
learning in primates and social perception in ducks. Mr. Jay
Bartels, a research consultant in the design of apparatus,
drew preliminary plans f or a behavior research building and
designed apparatus for use in experimental work. Dr„ William
Etkin, Associate Professor of Zoology at the City College of
New York, initiated observations on socialization in the In-
dian Blackbuck. Mr. John L0 Hughes, research psychologist
for the International Business Machines Corporation, prepar-
ed a manuscript on statistical methods in animal behavior
research and assisted in the design of certain experiments .
EXPERIMENTAL WORK - Dr. Quaranta completed, late in the year,
a series of tests on the color vision of the Galapagos Tor-
toise which had been started in 1949. He also began work on
discrimination generalization in Macaques, White-handed Gib-
bons and human subjects.
DOCUMENTATION - The following were published by Dr . Quaranta:
Your Questions Give You Away. Animal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No.
1, pp. 26-27.
Animal Learning: An Ancient Speculation and a Modern Science.
Animal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 56-59.
An Experimental Study of the Color Vision of the Giant Tor-
toise. Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 21, pp. 295-312.
An Experimental Study of the Color Vision of the Giant Tor-
toise. (Read by title): American Psychological Associa-
tion meeting, Washington, D.C., Sept. 2. (Abstract): Amer .
Psychologist, July .
A Comparative Study of Discrimination Generalization in Ma-
caque Monkeys, Macaca inula tta , White-handed Gibbon, Hylo-
bates lar, and in Human Subjects. (Abstract): Anat . Rec . ,
Vol. 113, No. 4, Abstract 114.
Two short motion picture records of experimental work
conducted at the Zoological Park, on color vision in the Ga-
lapagos Tortoise and primate learning, were made by Staff
Photographer Dun ton under Dr. Quaranta 's direction.
LECTURES - Dr. Quaranta gave talks on "Research in Animal Be-
havior" and "Color Vision Capacities of Animals" before the
Mendelian Society of Manhattan College, and before a joint
meeting of the Psychological and Philosophical Societies of
Manhattan College on "Human Cognition and Animal Learning."
29
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Herbert J. Ijiobloch, Assistant Curator
Elizabeth P. Jacob, Assistant
Mildred Levine, Assistant
A NECESSARILY LARGE and in some ways a disproportionate a-
mount of the Department of Education's time in 1952 was con-
cerned with the production of the Society's motion picture
films . A routine has been evolved whereby the Department of
Publication and Photography does the actual script-writing,
shooting and soundtracking of motion picture films, and the
Department of Education handles all the time-consuming tasks
of splicing, matching, rehearsing and, eventually, distrib-
uting on a sales or rental basis .
At the year's end four or five pictures were completed,
with sound track, and a decision will be made in 1953 whether
we are to attempt national distribution ourselves or to turn
over our existing pictures, and future ones as they are pro-
duced, to an established distributor. The former method will
certainly entail a larger staff. In any event, experience
of the past year has taught us that the preparation of six
reels is certainly the limit of the Department of Education's
present staff, involved as it is with so many other functions.
Our films were mailed out on 117 rental orders and were
seen by 14,386 persons. Fourteen prints were sold. On 24
occasions films were loaned out for special showings, and
there were 10 requests for previews. Staff officers used
motion pictures 39 times to illustrate talks and lectures.
VISITING SCHOOLS AND ORGANIZATIONS - The number of school
classes and groups visiting the Zoological Park set a new
high record in 1952. The totals are:
Schools and Organizations 2,035
Classes and Organized Groups 2,905
Total School/Group Attendance 131,221
As usual, the month with the greatest number of school
visitors was May, when 631 schools, 1,064 classes and 44,806
students visited the Park. All of these figures are also
new highs for any one-month period to date.
GUIDED TOURS - A new record was also established in the guid-
30
ed tour service. During the year 151 guided tours were con-
ducted for 4,081 persons. The previous record year was 1947
when 150 tours were given. Thirty-five tours were conducted
for 1,240 students during the month of May alone, and, as
might be expected, the figures are new records for any one
month. The exceptionally fine weather during the fall un-
doubtedly contributed in large part to the particularly heavy
schedule. Seventy-seven members of the Society and their
guests took advantage of their membership privilege and were
taken "behind-the-scenes" on 14 members1 tours.
SCHOOL LECTURE SERVICE - Miss Jacob visited 87 schools and
organizations and gave 291 animal- demonstration talks to
27,915 children. Her visits to the childrenss ward of Memo-
rial Hospital, where the patients are cancer cases, were so
greatly appreciated that the recreation department of the
hospital has requested regular monthly programs.
LECTURES - Seventeen lectures, illustrated with animals and
motion pictures, were given by staff members of the depart-
ment to audiences totaling approximately 1,500 persons.
QUESTION HOUSE - Question House operated from Wednesday , April
30, through Sunday, November 9, and during the season was
closed only 17 days because of bad weather. This service
continued to be as popular as ever. Throughout the six and
a half months of operation the staff answered 17,097 ques-
tions put by the 42,223 recorded visitors. A breakdown of
the questions follows:
Miscellaneous animal questions 13,210
Questions requiring research 151
Platypus questions 568
Directional questions 3,168
17,097
In February a new Kodachrone view box was purchased for
the display and sale of additional I'odachrorie slides. Slides
of animals in the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park region, photo-
graphed by James Simon, are now being sold in addition to
those taken by Staff Photographer Dunton in the Park.
MISCELLANEOUS - Two more in-service courses for elementary
school teachers, "Materials and Methods in the Use of the
New York Zoological Park (Bronx Zoo) in Elementary Educa-
tion," were given at the Park during the spring and fall
school terms .
In the spring another 5-weeks training course in animal
life was given for Girl Scout Leaders and in July two addi-
31
tional one-day sessions were held for groups of prospective
Brownie Scout Leaders and Intermediate Girl Scout Leaders .
Toward the end of October, a survey was started in co-
operation with the Bronxville school system to determine how
best the Zoological Park may serve the public schools. A
preliminary report was submitted at the end of the year and
the survey will continue in 1953.
Miss Mildred Levine joined the staff of the department
in February.
SUMMARY OF ATTENDANCE
ZOOLOGICAL PARI:
Month
1 QS9
JLC7 «J£
.Ta Tina t*"v
fifi 9Qfi
Fphruarv
114 304
1 *34 OQQ
167,307
308,275
278,586
317,915
270,515
360,368
342,355
261,637
171,273
119,634
70,125
2,270,982
2,583,471
Total visitors from
November 9, 1899, to
December 31, 1952 114,338,375
32
PUBLICATION AND PHOTOGRAPHY
William Bridges, Curator
Dorothy Reville, Assistant
Sam Dunton, Photographer
FOUR MOTION PICTURES in 16 mm. Koda chrome were produced in
1952 and a sound track was put on another film edited from
existing footage — a total of accomplishment which speaks well
for the industry of our Staff Photographer and the unstinted
co-operation of members of the Education Department on whom
we depend for matching of work print and original, splicing,
rehearsal screenings and all the tiresome chores connected
with film-making.
In April Mr. Bridges and Mr, Dunton flew to Trinidad and
in three crowded weeks shot 2,600 feet of film on the activ-
ities of the Department of Tropical Research. This has been
edited to two reels — 800 feet — and is now awaiting completion
with a sound track, after which it will be incorporated in
our general film library.
The usual miscellany of Zoological Park events of the
year was filmed at odd moments and resulted in a one-reel
picture entitled "Herbert and His Friends." This footage
will subsequently be broken up and the best of it used in
other pictures.
In mid-summer, under the direction of Dr. Oliver, Mr.
Dunton photographed "The Locomotion of Snakes," a one-reel
picture for which we expect great success in biology class
distribution.
The motion picture year ended on a somewhat frantic note
when, in early November, it was determined that a motion pic-
ture should be made to further the Aquarium fund-raising cam-
paign, with the first showing scheduled for the Zoological
Society's Members1 Meetings in mid- January. Some 8,000 feet
of superb film was generously and promptly lent to us by Mr.
Lee Boltin, Dr. CM. Breder, Jr., Mr. Murl Deusing, Mr. Ben
East, Mr. George G. Lower, Mrs. Margaret Lockhart and the
Conservation Foundation. An artist, Mr. Carl Burger, went to
work on a night-and-day basis, Mr. Dunton shot additional
footage as required, the Education Department staff on sever-
al occasions worked all night long, and on the morning of
Wednesday, January 14 — the day of the first scheduled show-
ing of the picture — Mr. Dunton was able to present his crea-
tion complete with narration and music sound track.
33
In the midst of this last-minute scramble time was found
to put a sound track on "Strangers from Afar," a picture ed-
ited from existing footage.
The photographic collection now numbers approximately
30,000 negatives, including 587 made last year by Mr. Dunton.
We sold 775 prints and made 1,936 prints, 42 copy negatives,
53 slides, 6 transparencies and 95 X-ray negatives for our
own purposes.
In the Printshop Mr. Larsen performed an admirable job in
handling the ever-increasing volume of work. He provided
240 new animal labels and our presses struck off 258,625 im-
pressions in turning out forms required by various depart-
ments .
In the Publications section, "The Prevention and Treat-
ment of Snakebite" was published as a 32-page pamphlet; "A Bi-
ological and Economic Appraisal of the Jackson Hole Elk Herd"
was edited and published; and at the end of the year an A-
quarium promotion booklet, written by Mr. Carlisle with cap-
tions prepared by Mr. Atz, was seen through the press.
Our technical quarterly, Zoologica, was given a new typo-
graphic dress at the beginning of the year. Twenty-one pa-
pers, to a total of 312 pages, were published. Volume 37
contained the following: •
Part 1. June 30, 1952.
1. A New Dwarf Toad from Southeastern Brazil. By George S.
Myers & Antenor Leitao de Carvalho.
2. Sexual Broods and the Production of Young Queens in Two
Species of Army Ants. By T.C. Schneirla & Robert Zanes
Brown. Plates I-III; Text-figures 1 & 2.
3. Spectral Effects on the Growth Rate and Endocrine Histol-
ogy of the Teleost, Astyanax mexicanus . By Phyllis H.
Cahn. Text-figures 1-4.
4. Fungus Associated with a Granuloma in a Turkish Fish, A-
phanius chantrei Gaillard. By Recai Ermin. Plates I
& II; Text-figures 1-11.
5. Deep-sea Fishes of the Bermuda Oceanographic Expeditions.
Families Cetomimidae and Rondeletiidae. By Robert R.
Harry. Plate I; Text-figures 1-4.
Part 2. September 19, 1952.
6. The Effects of Prolonged Treatment with Acriflavine on
the Killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus (Linnaeus). By
Grace E . Pickf ord.
7. Effects of ACTH and Cortisone on the Pituitary, Thyroid
and Gonads of the Teleost As tynax mexicanus . By Pris-
cilla Rasquin & Ethel Hafter Atz. Plates I & II; Text-
figures 1 & 2.
34
8. The Effects of Holothurin on Fish, and Mice with Sarcoma
180. By Ross F. Nigrelli.
9. Sex Determination in Xiphophorus (Platypoecilus ) macu-
la tus . III. Differentiation of Gonads in Platyfish
from Broods Having a Sex Ratio of Three Females to One
Male. By Myron Gordon. Plates I & II; Text-figure 1.
10. Four New Species of Geometri da e (Moths) from Rancho Grande,
North-central Venezuela. By D.S. Fletcher. Plate I;
Text-figures 1-7.
Part 3. October 31, 1952.
11. The Mutillidae (Wasps) of British Guiana. By Clarence Ec
Mickel.
12. A Revision of the Fishes of the Subfamily Alfarinae in
the Family Poeciliidae. By Donn Eric Rosen. Text-
figures 1-10.
Part 4. December 31, 1952.
13. Introduction to the Ecology of the Arima Valley, Trini-
dad, B.W.I. By William Beebe. Plates I-V; Text-fig-
ures 1-5.
14. Spontaneous Neoplasms in Fishes. VI. Thyroid Tumors in
Marine Fishes. By Ross F. Nigrelli. Plates I-IX.
15. Further Comparisons of Length and Voltage in the Elec-
tric Eel, Electrophorus electricus (Linnaeus). By M.
Vertner Brown & C.W. Coates . Text-figures 1-7.
16. A Contribution to the Life History of Colobura (Gynaecia
auct.) dirce dirce (Linnaeus). (Butterfly) . By Wil-
liam Beebe. Plates I & II .
17. The Saturnioidea (Moths) of Rancho Grande, North-central
Venezuela. By Henry Fleming.
18. The Functional Morphology of the Egg-eating Adaptations
in the Snake Genus Dasvpeltis . By Carl Gans . Plates
I-IV; Text-figures 1-15 .
19. An Annotated List of the Mantids (Orthoptera, Mantoidea)
of Trinidad, B.W.I. By William Beebe, Jocelyn Crane &
Sally Hughes-Schrader. Plates I-VIII; Text-figures 1
& 2.
20. A Comparative Study of Innate Defensive Behavior in Trin-
idad Mantids (Orthoptera, Mantoidea). By Jocelyn Crane.
Plates I-X; Text-figures 1 & 2 .
21. An Experimental Study of the Color Vision of the Giant
Tortoise. By John V. Quaranta. Plates I & II; Text-
figures 1 & 2 .
For the first time in our history, the Annual Report of
the Zoological Society was published in two forms — a shorten-
ed, pictorial presentation made by Mr. Carlisle and the fa-
35
miliar detailed report of previous years. The latter, as an
economy measure, was published in offset from typescript copy
prepared during the spring by Kiss Lucy Long of the Publica-
tions section.
Animal Kingdom, its typography and layout brightened by
Mrs. Dorothy Reville, was published in the six regular num-
bers .
36
COMPTROLLER1 S DEPARTMENT
Herbert F. Schiemann, Comptroller
THE PRINCIPAL IMPROVEMENT in the Comptroller's Department
during the past year was the installation of a modern pay-
roll system effective January 1, 1952. The system !s numer-
ous advantages include improved organization of payroll work,
greater control over payroll changes and expenditures and a
time-saving feature, namely, a method of preparing three es-
sential payroll records at the one writing. Through the in-
stallation of the system we were able to forestall an in-
crease of office personnel which for a time appeared inevi-
table because of the additional work taken on by the Payroll
Division, such as Group Insurance details. Group Insurance
for employees, which also went into force on January 1, 1952,
added considerably to our crowded work schedule.
During the past year there was employee turnover in the
Comptroller's office to an unusual extent because of the res-
ignations of several of our more experienced employees. The
problems arising from this turnover have been met by our
present personnel, who have devoted their time loyally and
efficiently to the work in hand. For this we are most grate-
ful.
CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
Quentin Melling Schubert, Superintendent
TWO MAJOR JOBS designed, constructed and supervised by De-
partment of Parks engineers were undertaken in 1952 and will
be ready for acceptance by this department early in 1953.
The first of these, the Reptile House Roof, redesigned and
constructed of steel and pre-cast slabs, was delayed three
months because of the steel strike. The second project in-
cluded a Parking Field accommodating 327 cars and a Comfort
Station at Bronxdale. The imminent operation of the Casting
Pool and the Farm-in-the-Zoo and plans for the future Con-
servation Exhibit made the new construction necessary.
Our own department designed and completed a number of
projects, using some sub-contractors. A Wading Pool was con-
structed in the southeast Elephant Yard, the main Yard re-
graded and the entire area resurfaced with asphalt.
An air-conditioned cage was designed and built in the
lobby of the Reptile House. This provides an exhibition space
with a temperature of 55-60 degrees for the Tuatara . Another
37
air-conditioning unit was installed in the Hummingbird sec-
tion of the Bird House and a third one in the Mail Room of
the Administration Building.
A high-sided enclosure was constructed in the basement of
the Heads and Horns Museum and equipped with banks of photo-
flood lights for motion picture photography of reptiles and
small mammals .
The bridge over the moat of the African Plains was recon-
structed with steel beams and a new railing in keeping with
the present design.
Four new tubular steel boilers were purchased and in-
stalled, the first in the Bird House, replacing the two small
obsolete boilers; the second in the Service Building; the
third in the Boston Road Comfort Station, and the fourth re-
placing the water heating boiler in the Hippopotamus pool0
Approximately 2,500 square yards of paving was done on
walks where repairing was badly needed.
New window frames and sash were constructed in our shops
to replace the rotted sash in the main windows of the Ele-
phant House.
Large maps of the Zoological Park, framed and under glass,
were set in twelve locations about the Park. They indicate
the visitor fs location in relationship to all exhibits 0
In line with the color scheme inaugurated in 1950, the
interior of the Ostrich House was repainted. Tables and
chairs in the restaurants have also been painted in accord-
ance with this plan0
The Yard Scale was reconditioned, with new deck planking.
Several offices in the Administration Building were re-
conditioned and redecorated.
Airkem machines were installed for deodorizing the Lion
House and four are at present being tested in the Elephant
Hous e .
Considerable planting was necessary during the past year.
A survey of dead trees indicated 232 trees of 6W caliper or
larger and 219 under 6" caliper that must be removed. During
the winter of 1951-52, 480 trees were removed, this large
number being in part a result of the storm of 1950. A new
large honey locust tree was planted in the southeast Elephant
Yard where a 35" caliper dead white oak was removed. Hemlock,
white birch and weeping willow trees have been planted in
the area south of the Moose corral „ In this same area an-
other unit of rhododendrons has been planted, replacing the
tall old plants broken down under winter ice and age.
In addition to the above, the departments executed 2,350
work orders during the year.
Institution of the forty-four hour work week in October
and the forty-two hour work week on January 1, 1953, requir-
ed a rescheduling of men in shops and maintenance. The full
impact of the shorter work week has not yet been felt.
38
FACILITIES DEPARTMENT
Edward Kearney, Manager of Restaurants
Edward Quinn, Assistant Manager
IT IS ESTIMATED that 2,500,000 servings of either food, bev-
erage or confection were consumed by Zoological Park visi-
tors last year. Because of the enormous amount of nourish-
ment sold and the necessity of purity and wholesomeness in
the food served in our restaurants and refreshment stands,
the Society five years ago instituted a restaurant employee
training program in methods of preparing and dispensing food
products .
In consequence of this program, six members of the super-
visory personnel were given a course of training at the Food
Trades Vocational High School under the sponsorship of the
New York City Department of Health.
They were then assigned to supervision of general sani-
tation, food supplies, sanitary inspections and methods of
storing, handling and processing food. It is most gratify-
ing to report the high standard of operation maintained by
the restaurant facilities since this program was inaugurated.
The new Cafeteria which opened for business late in 1951
has proved to be exceedingly popular. At times on busy Sun-
days it was necessary to station an attendant at the door to
limit the number of patrons at a given time to prevent over-
crowding. New colorful chairs and tables were added to the
outside dining terrace and were sheltered with beach umbrel-
las. The Cafeteria is open every day in the year, and its
revenue has exceeded expectations.
The Zoobar, our service restaurant which is closed dur-
ing the winter, is being further modernized. Waitress lock-
er facilities are being expanded and a concrete block struc-
ture is being added to the north side of the building to
house new sanitary clothes lockers. The service kitchen
floor, which was laid in 1941, is being replaced with sani-
tary grease-resistant tiles.
Because of the popular demand for such items as balloons,
Bronx Zoo pennants, inflated rubber monkeys and numerous oth-
er zoo novelties, the souvenir department has again enjoyed
a record year in sales. Quantity of some of the items sold
are: Bronx Zoo pennants, 29,431; Bronx Zoo balloons, 42,690;
squirt snakes, 3,792; chenille animals, 3,540; bear badges,
8,231; hopping frogs, 3,742; rubber monkeys, 9,412; Bronx
Zoo parasols, 4,176; animal pinwheels, 7,847.
The Central Commissary with its multiple floor levels is
handicapped for space to handle the enormous amount of food
and beverages received and stored. Most items are repacked
into smaller containers or packages and reshipped to the vari-
39
ous restaurants, service stands, souvenir stands and carre-
tina wagons scattered throughout the Zoological Park.
Some idea of the volume of the refreshment business in
the Zoological Park -will be gained by Commissary statistics
for 1S52: 1,906 doz. eggs, 2,334 lbs. of butter, 3,322 lbs „
cheese, 6,497 gal. ice cream, 34,156 doz. ice cream pops,
26,328 doz. frankfurter rolls, 34,685 lbs. frankfurters,
39,589 lbs. meat, 5,870 lbs . coffee, 22,250 cs . soda, 4,422
gal. fountain syrups , 41, 430 doz . popcorn, 10,947 boxes candy,
165,600 individual containers of orangeade, 1,165,000 assort-
ed single service paper cups, 166,000 paper plates.
MISCELLANEOUS OPERATIONS
AND SERVICES
CHILDREN'S ZOO - The Children's Zoo opened for its 12th sea-
son on April 12, under the able supervision of Mrs. Corrine
Dalsgaard, and closed for the year on Noverber 7. Despite
the adverse rainy spring weather and the very hot dry summer,
the attendance for 1952 totalled 354,862.
RIDING TRACKS - Dromedaries , Llamas , and Donkeys capably op-
erated by Riding Master Henry Bartels gave rides to 202,409
children in 1952 , a total exceeded only by last year!s record-
breaking 231,434 rides. Complete plans and drawings have
been prepared for the reconstruction of the entire Riding
Track area, together with new ticket stands and platforms.
It is hoped to have this work completed by mid-1953.
Rides at the Pony Track under Ponymaster Ednond Foran
numbered 181,617.
TRACTOR TRAINS - Rides numbered 479,936 in 1952.
FARM- IN- THE- ZOO - The Farm-in-the-Zoo was again unable to open
because of Parkway construction. Farm Superintendent Nelson
Miller remained in residence on the property. Basic breed-
ing stock was maintained, and animals from the Children's
Zoo were wintered and tractor trains stored at the Fan:. Em-
phasis was placed on the production of eggs and poultry, and
fresh eggs were supplied for custards for the Duck-billed
Platypuses. Other foodstuffs were supplied to the Facili-
ties Department Comriissary.
Production at the Farm was: "Wool, 150 pounds; Pork,
3,168 pounds; Lamb, 93 pounds; Poultry, 616 pounds; Eggs,
690-2/3 dozen.
40
THE AQUARIUM
Christopher W. Coates, Curator and Aquarist
James W. Atz, Assistant Curator
Ross F. Nigrelli, Pathologist
Myron Gordon, Geneticist
THE LAUNCHING of the drive for funds to build, equip and stock
the proposed new Aquarium represents a new high point in our
activities. Much of our attention and effort, during the lat-
ter part of the year, was focused on the preparation for the
drive itself, on the brochure jointly issued by the Park De-
partment and the Society, and on the Society^ motion picture
and booklet which describe the building and its collections
and which were to be featured at the Members1 Meeting of the
Society held in January, 1953.
Since there are practically no commercial dealers in fish-
es, except those who sell small freshwater species suitable
for home aquaria, the great majority of fishes and other
aquatic animals cannot be purchased through commercial chan-
nels. The setting up of sources of supply is therefore one
of the knottiest of problems faced by public aquariums. For
the past few years Curator Coates has been establishing con-
tacts throughout the world with an eye to stocking the new
Aquarium. During 1952, trips were made to West Virginia and
Florida with this view in mind — to West Virginia to meet the
freshwater fisheries men of the various northern and eastern
states, and to Florida to survey and establish connections,
both commercial and institutional, for the catching and trans-
portation of the colorful and interesting marine fishes of
that area. It is good to be able to report that the prospects
for obtaining a most varied and interesting collection seem
excellent.
Because of the difficulty of obtaining a suitable materi-
al for framing our new labels, we have been delayed in plac-
ing them on view. For this purpose we needed a substance
that was attractive in appearance, capable of resisting water,
dirt and air-borne chemicals, structurally strong enough to
preclude the use of massive and unsightly borders, difficult
to destroy or damage — and yet easy to fabricate and not too
expensive. Aluminum was finally decided upon, of a suitable
degree of hardness and with a satin finish which we prepare
ourselves. This eliminates objectionable points of reflec-
tion that would occur with highly polished surfaces. The
41
finish is protected by a coat of transparent lacquer. Most
of the work on the frames has now been completed; we expect
to put up the new labels early in 1953.
The collection and maintenance of earthworms, crayfish
and frogs, used to feed the Duck-billed Platypuses, continued
as one of our regular activities.
EXHIBITIONS - Although we are at present dependent upon the
ordinary commercial shipments of small tropical fishes from
northern South America and southeastern Asia for the great
majority of our new fishes, we occasionally turn up rare and
interesting local species suitable for exhibition in warm
fresh waters. Such were the young albino Bullheads, Ameiur-
us nebulosus , presented to us by Dr. Alfred H. Schilling, who
collected thematKemah Lake, New Jersey. A young Chain Pick-
erel, Esox niger, also collected locally and donated to us,
has done well in one of our tanks. From Lake Agassiz, at the
time of its lowering last December, we obtained a series of
wild Goldfish. These dull bronze or lead-colored fish are
the descendants of golden-hued individuals that were acciden-
tally or deliberately planted sometime in the past. Placed
next to the tank containing our fine collection of fancy Gold-
fish, the new specimens provide a striking example of natural,
as opposed to artificial, selection.
Among the more noteworthy tropical species purchased dur-
ing the year have been a Mudspringer, anArowana, several Up-
side Down Catfish, Pearl Spot Cichlids, Leaf -fish, Flying
Barbs, Albino Pristellas and Spotted Callichthyids , Hoplo-
sternum thoracatum.
In December we placed on exhibition a strain of domesti-
cated Platyfish, called the Turkish Black Fury, first devel-
oped by Dr. Curt Kosswig of the University of Istanbul. These
were the descendants of a single pair brought from Turkey by
Dr. Gordon in the summer of 1950 and propagated in our Genet-
ics Laboratory. These attractive fish are proving popular
with tropical fish enthusiasts.
RESEARCH - Although the scientific investigations of the staff
and their collaborators have proceeded along broad pathways
previously set, several new approaches have been put into ef-
fect with gratifying results.
The application of newly developed ultramicro techniques
has enabled a team of investigators, operating from the Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons and including Curator Coates,
to analyze the functioning of the individual electric plates
and even of single cells removed from the electric organ of
the Electric Eel. Much information has been obtained about
facilitation and inhibition, which are two of the basic phe-
nomena underlying the physiology of nerve cells. The new
techniques have already proved invaluable for determining
42
just what goes on at the cellular level when the eel discharges
its powerful electric current. This knowledge will in turn
provide new insight into the functioning of all nervous tis-
sue, including that of man.
In searching for examples to support his presumption of
the prevalence of antibiotics and other biological poisons
among marine plants and animals, Dr. Nigrelli has unearthed
an especially potent poison produced by a species of West In-
dian sea-cucumber. Not only does this substance, which has
been named Holothurin, appear to be one of the most powerful
animal poisons known, but its peculiar chemical properties
have led to an investigation of its effects on certain types
of cancer. Working with Dr. Nigrelli on the nature and prop-
erties of Holothurin is Dr. Paul A. Zahl of the Haskins Lab-
oratories of New York. The material was collected by Dr.
Nigrelli during a month's sojourn at the Lerner Marine Labo-
ratory on the island of Bimini , British West Indies. While
there , Dr. Nigrelli also tested the effects of newly develop-
ed helminthicides on fishes, and gathered new data on a nat-
urally occurring fish tumor with an unusually high incidence.
With Dr0 Sophie Jakowska of the College of Mount St. Vin-
cent, Dr. Nigrelli has completed an investigation of the
pathology of myxosporidiosis in Electric Eels. This disease
is caused by highly infectious protozoans (one-celled ani-
mals) which may infest practically any organ of the body,
producing extensive damage and death. Because these organ-
isms belong to a group of parasites that occurs in many spe-
cies of food fishes, undoubtedly killing large numbers of
them and rendering the flesh of many others unfit to eat, any-
thing that can be learned about their life history and how
they affect fish has high potential value.
In support of this year's program of research on abnormal
growths in fishes, carried on in our Genetics Laboratory at
the American Museum of Natural History under the direction
of Dr. Gordon, $15,960 was received from the Federal Securi-
ty Agency, Public Health Service, National Institutes of
Health. From the American Cancer Society $250 was received
to aid in the work on thyroid tumors, and from the American
Philosophical Society $750 f or evolutionary studies on fishes .
The Damon Runyon Fund donated $2,500 towards the publishing
of a book composed of the papers given at the Third Confer-
ence on the Biology of Normal and Atypical Pigment Cell Growth,
sponsored by the Society in 1951. Edited by Dr. Gordon, Pig-
ment Cell Growth will appear in the spring of 1953.
In the Genetics Laboratory, Dr. Gordon and Mr. Theodor
Marcus continued their investigations on a transplantable
melanoma that occurs in certain hybrid swordtails. Because
so few fish tumors can be successfully transplanted, this
melanoma is of special interest. The development and physi-
ology of the thyroid tumors that regularly appear in certain
43
strains of swordtail continue to be studied by Dr. Olga Aron-
owitz Berg, partly through the use of radioactive iodine.
Dr. Gordon made a three -weeks trip to the state of Tobasco
in Mexico where he collected platyfish and swordtails in the
Rio Grijalva. This was the last great river system in which
these fishes were known to exist but from which no examples
had ever been taken. Both living and preserved specimens
were collected for genetic and speciation analyses. A study
of the structure, function and evolution of the gonopodium
of the male poeciliid fishes — the organ with which they fer-
tilize the live-bearing females — was completed by Mr. Donn
E. Rosen and Dr. Gordon. Three trips were taken to the Museum
of Zoology of the University of Michigan in order to further
the preparation of a book on the freshwater fishes of north-
eastern Mexico by Professor Carl L. Hubbs and Dr. Gordon.
COLLABORATION - Our advice on the construction of new aquar-
iums continues to be sought by institutions and authorities
from many parts of the world. During the year we provided
data for the construction and maintenance of new public a-
quariums in Wellington, New Zealand; Bergen, Norway; Paris,
France ; Maribor, Jugoslavia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; LaGuaira,
Venezuela; Montreal, Canada; Long Beach, California; Boston,
Massachusetts; and Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. Technical
advice and assistance on water circulations for the mainten-
ance of aquatic animals in captivity have been given to the
Hokkaido Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory of Japan; the
Marine Biological Laboratory of Cronulla, New South Wales,
Australia; the Department of Zoology of the University of
California at Los Angeles; the Belle Isle Aquarium of Detroit ;
the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers
University; the Bingham Oceanographic Laboratory of Yale Uni-
versity; the New York State Medical School at Syracuse; and
the New York Botanical Garden.
Much effort was given to the development of a method of
moving living squid to the laboratories of the College of
Physicians and Surgeons where these animals are required for
the investigation of nerve activity, as part of the research
program that includes the Electric Eel. The co-operation of
Dr. Alfred Perlmutter, Marine Biologist of the State of New
York, was invaluable in this project.
Collaborators working with the Aquarium during the year
were:
Drs. David Nachmansohn, Harry Grundfest and Irwin B. Wil-
son, Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and
Surgeons, Columbia University.
Dr. Mario Altamirano-Orrego, Catholic University of Chile,
Santiago, and Department of Neurology, College of Physi-
cians and Surgeons, Columbia University.
44
Dr. M. Vertner Brown, College of the City of New York.
Drs . Horace W. Stunkard and Harry Charipper, New York Uni-
versity.
Dr. Eli D. Goldsmith, New York University Dental College.
Dr. Aubrey Gorbman, Barnard College, Columbia University.
Dr. Sophie Jakowska, College of Mount St. Vincent, New York.
Drs. Caryl P. Haskins, Seymour Hutner, Paul A. Zahl and
Luigi Provasoli, Haskins Laboratories, New York.
Dr. Alfred Perlmutter, Conservation Department, State of
New York.
Dr. James R. Westman, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment
Station, Rutgers University.
Dr. Carl L. Hubbs, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Dr. Recai Ermin, University of Istanbul.
Dr. Helen Vishniac, Queens College and Haskins Laboratories.
Miss Francesca LaMonte, Drs. Charles M. Breder, Jr., Lester
R. Aronson, T.C. Schneirla and Eugenie Clark, American
Museum of Natural History.
Dr. Daniel Merriman, Bingham Oceanogra phi c Laboratory, Yale
University.
Dr. Samuel Bieber, Wellcome Research Laboratories, Tucka-
hoe, New York.
Dr. Olga Berg, Fellow, American Cancer Society and Research
Associate, Barnard College, Columbia University.
Mr. Hugh Gordon, Columbia University.
Dr. Abner I. Weisman, Jewish Memorial Hospital and Metro-
politan Hospital, New York.
Dr. Alfred Angrist, Jewish Memorial Hospital and Queens
General Hospital.
Drs. Nigrelli and Gordon presented their courses on fish
diseases and the genetics of fishes, respectively, in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, New York University.
Under the sponsorship of Dr. Nigrelli, Mr. Samuel Bieber re-
ceived the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and Sister Talitha-
Meredith, 0. P. , received the degree of Master of Science. The
following candidates are at present working under Drs . Nigrel-
li or Gordon for advanced degrees from New York University:
Mr. Sheldon Aaronson, Brooklyn College and College of the
City of New York.
Mr. James W. Atz, New York Zoological Society.
Miss Jean Copperthwaite, Haskins Laboratories, New York.
Mrs. Sylvia Greenberg.
Miss Patricia Kadow, College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown,
New Jersey.
Mr. Thomas J. King, Institute for Cancer Research, Phila-
delphia .
Mr. Theodor R. Marcus, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York.
Mr. George S. Pappas, Iona College, New Rochelle, New York.
45
Mr. Alfonso N. Petrocci, Onyx Oil and Chemical Company,
Jersey City.
Mr. Alan A. Rubin.
Mr. Henry Vogel, New York City Department of Health.
Mr. Marvin Weinstein, Squibb Pharmaceutical Company, Inc.
Living fishes, most of them of special genetic strains,
were supplied to the Universities of Paris, Vienna, Istanbul
and North Carolina, to Oxford University, the College of
France, the West Virginia University Medical School, the Rot-
terdam Zoo and a laboratory of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service located at Stanford University. Co-operation with the
Department of Marine and Aviation, New York City; the Feder-
al Security Agency, Pure Food and Drug Administration; the
Department of Health, New York City; Fish and Wildlife Serv-
ice, Department of the Interior; and the Conservation Depart-
ment, State of New York, continued as in previous years.
PUBLICATIONS - The following scientific and popular articles
by members of the staff appeared during the year:
Mr. Coates
The Marine Aquarium in the Home. Indian Aquarist (Bombay),
Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 8-9.
Introduction and Notes . Sounds of the Sea . Science Series ,
Folkways Records & Service Corp., New York. 5 pp.
Cod. Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 7, pp. 192-193.
Electric Fishes. Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 10, pp. 111-112.
Fluorescent Lights for Home Tanks. Fish Culturist, Vol. 31,
No. 8, p. 57.
New Drugs and Their Use in the Aquarium. Indian Aquarist
(Bombay), Vol. 3, No. 5, pp. 30-31. The Aquarium, Vol. 21,
No. 10, p. 294.
Arowana Has Limited Ability to Survive. Fish Culturist, Vol.
32, No. 3, pp. 19-20.
Further Comparisons of Length and Voltage in the Electric
Eel, Electrophorus electricus (Linnaeus) . With M. Vertner
Brown. Zoologica, Vol. 37, Part 4, pp. 191-197.
Activity of Electroplax of Electric Eel. With Mario Alta-
mirano-Orrego, Harry Grundf est, David Nachmansohn and Irwin
B. Wilson. Fed. Proc, Vol. 11, No. 1, p. 4. Abstract.
Weekly column on fishes in the New York World Telegram and
Sun continued for twenty-second year.
Mr. Atz
The Functions of Plants in Aquaria. The Balanced Aquarium
Myth. Pp. 123-134, 215-227 of "Tropical Fish as a Hobby."
McGraw-Hill, New York.
46
Fishes that Look Like Plants. Aquarium Joum., Vol. 23, No.
2, pp. 24-32.
Functions of Water Plants in Aquaria. Aquarist and Pondkeep-
er, Vol. 16, No. 12, pp. 249-252.
A Warning to Amateur "Fish Doctors." Animal Kingdom, Vol.
55, No. 2, pp. 45-46.
Internal Nares in the Teleost, Astroscopus . Anat. Rec. , Vol.
113, No. 1, pp. 105-115.
Beneficent Poison from the Sea? Animal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No.
6, pp. 175-177.
Narial Breathing in Fishes and the Evolution of Internal Nares .
Quart. Rev. Biol., Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 366-377.
Dr. Nigrelli
Virus and Tumors in Fishes. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. , Vol. 54,
No. 6, pp. 1076-1092.
The Effects of Holothurin on Fish, and Mice with Sarcoma 180.
Zoologica, Vol. 37, Pt. 2, pp. 89-90.
Spontaneous Neoplasms in Fishes. VI. Thyroid Tumors in Ma-
rine Fishes. Zoologica, Vol. 37, Pt. 4, pp. 185-189.
Effects of Purine and Pyrimidine Analogues on Development of
Rana pipiens. With Samuel Bieber and G.H. Hitchings. Proc.
Soc. Exper. Biol, and Med., Vol. 79, No. 3, pp. 430-432.
Further Studies on Atypical Blood Elements in Anemic Newts,
Triturus viridescens . With Sophie Jakowska. Caryologia
(Pisa), Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 281-288.
Don't Be a Hypochondriac about your Fishes. With James W.
Atz. Aquarium Joum., Vol. 23, No. 10, pp. 201-205.
Some Biological Characteristics of Holothurin. With Paul A.
Zahl. Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol, and Med., Vol. 81, No. 2,
pp. 379-380.
Spontaneous Neoplasms in Fishes . VI. Thyroid Tumors in Marine
Fishes. Cancer Res., Vol. 12, No. 4, p. 286. Abstract.
Studies on Neoplasms in Fishes. VII. Spermatocytoma in an
African Lungfish (Protopterus annectens) . With Sophie Ja-
kowska. Cancer Res . , Vol. 12, No. 4, p. 286. Abstract.
Dr. Gordon
Genetic and Correlated Studies of Normal and Atypical Pigment
Cell Growth. Growth, Vol. 15, Supplement, pp. 153-219. 0-951).
How Animals Get their Names. Science Digest, Vol. 31, No. 1,
pp. 18-22.
How Fish Get Their Names. Aquarium Genetics. Pp. 177-214
of "Tropical Fish as a Hobby." McGraw-Hill, New York.
Sex Determination in Xiphophorus (Platypoecilus) maculatus .
III. Differentiation of Gonads m Platyfish from Broods
Having a Sex Ratio of Three Females to One Male. Zoologi-
ca, Vol. 37, Pt. 2, pp. 91-100.
47
Little Fish with a Big Future. Animal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No.
5, pp. 146-150, 166-167.
Inheritance in Aquarium Fishes. Parts 1-3. Aquarist and
Pondkeeper, Vol. 17, Nos . 7-9, pp. 134-138, 165-169, 186^
190.
Inheritance in Fishes. Parts 1-2. Aquarium Journ., Vol. 23,
Nos. 11-12, pp. 219-223, 247-251.
The Turkish Black Fury. Animal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No. 6, pp.
187-188.
Genetic Evidence for Two Opposite Mechanisms for Sex-deter-
mination, XX-XY and WZ-ZZ (or WY-YY) , in the Same Species
of Platyfish, Xiphophorus (Platypoecilus ) maculatus , from
Different Geographical Populations. Anat. Rec. , Vol. 113,
No. 4, pp. 31-32. Abstract.
Progressive Growth Stages in the Development of Spontaneous
Thyroid Tumors in the Swordtail Xiphophorus montezumae .
With Olga Aronowitz and Martha Edgar. Cancer Res., Vol.
12, No. 4, p. 245. Abstract.
Study of the Regeneration Processes in Fishes after Amputa-
tions of Dorsal Fins with and without Melanotic Tumors.
With Recai Ermin. Cancer Res., Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 260-261.
Abstract.
The Frequencies of Five Genes for Macromelanophores (Cells
Capable of Producing Tumors) in Seven Natural Populations
of the Platyfish, Xiphophorus (Platypoecilus) maculatus .
With Hugh Gordon. Genetics, Vol. 37, No. 5, p. 586. Ab-
stract.
Mr. Rosen
A Revision of the Fishes of the Subfamily Alfarinae in the
Family Poeciliidae. Zoologica, Vol. 37, Pt. 3, pp. 151-156.
PERSONNEL - Mr. Coates was reappointed Chairman of the Com-
mittee on Aquariums of the American Association of Zoological
Parks and Aquariums . Dr. Nigrelli represented the Society
of Protozoologists on the A.A.A.S. Council and was elected a
Fellow of the latter organization. Dr. Gordon was appointed
Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University and was
elected member of the New York Cancer Society and the Soci-
ety for the Study of Development and Growth.
Mr. Frank Fitzgerald was retired at the middle of the
year after twenty-five years of service. Mr. Thomas Howley,
Secretary of the Zoological Park's Safety Committee, attend-
ed the Twenty-second Annual Convention of the New York Safe-
ty Council held at the Hotel Statler in April.
During July and August four trips were made to Prospect
Park Lake where 1,240 fishes of ten different species were
seined and tagged for the Abraham & Straus Junior Fishing
Contest. Of the fishes tagged, 135 were recaptured by con-
testants, for which they received various prizes.
48
Members of the staff gave papers, lectures and demonstra-
tions, and participated in discussions at the following in-
stitutions and places:
Second National Cancer Conference, Cincinnati.
American Association for Cancer Research, New York meet-
ing.
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biolo-
gy, New York meeting.
American Society of Zoologists, Ithaca meeting.
Genetics Society of America, Ithaca meeting.
American Fisheries Society, Northeast Sections meeting,
Weston, "West Virginia.
Atlantic Fisheries Biologists, Kenyon, Rhode Island,
meeting.
American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums,
Montreal meeting.
Sixth Annual Symposium on Fundamental Cancer Research,
M.D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research, Houston,
Texas .
Memorial Cancer Center, New York.
Inter-Science Council, College of the City of New York.
Society of Biology and Medicine, Brooklyn College.
Department of Zoology, University of California, Berke-
ley, California.
Department of Biology, Hofstra College.
Systematics Club, American Museum of Natural History.
The Tropical Fish Fanciers of New England, Springfield,
Massachusetts .
Houston Aquarium Society.
New Jersey Aquarium Society.
Bronx Rotary Club.
West Hudson Optimist Club.
West Hudson Kiwanis Club.
Television Stations WJZ-TV and WCBS-TV.
49
DEPARTMENT OF TROPICAL RESEARCH
William Beebe, Director (January 1 to July 29, 1952)
Jocelyn Crane, Research Zoologist; Assistant Director
(since July 30, 1952)
Henry Fleming, Entomologist
Ellen Ordway, Field Assistant
GENERAL ACTIVITIES OF THE YEAR - In the year 1952, the first
five and a half months were spent in Trinidad on the 50th Ex-
pedition of the Department o In April a reconnaissance trip
was made to Surinam, and in June and July Miss Crane made a
three-weeks 1 trip to Panama and Guatemala. The rest of the
year was spent in the laboratory in the Zoological Park, work-
ing up the results of the field investigations and preparing
for another expedition.
This report includes only ten and a half months, as the
new 51st Expedition began on November 14.
CHANGES IN STAFF - On July 29, after fifty-three years' serv-
ice in the Zoological Society, Dr. Beebe was retired with
the title of Director Emeritus. He "will actively continue
research projects in the tropical valley of Arima, in Trini-
dad, at the Department's field station at 'Simla, ' for the
establishment of which he is, in fact, responsible, at the
same time spending a considerable part of each year at his
laboratory in the Zoological Park."
Miss Crane was made Assistant Director of the Department,
with which she has been associated since 1930.
On September 1, Field Assistant Ellen Ordway left to study
for a higher degree at Cornell. Miss Rosemary Kenedy has
since joined the staff as Field Assistant and Photographer .
FIFTIETH EXPEDITION - The third year of occupancy of Simla
came up to our expectations and re-emphasized the wisdom of
selecting this locality. We left New York on the Alcoa-Pil-
grim on January 14 and returned by Pan-American plane on June
26. On the seventeen days of the southern leg of the trip
we made stops at Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, and on to Vene-
zuela, docking at La Guaira, Guanta, Puerto la Cruz and Cari-
pito, before reaching our destination, Port-of -Spain.
HOUSEHOLD ARRANGEMENTS - Neither the menage nor the labora-
tory required any changes. This third season found them
50
perfectly adapted for use. The removal of a primary wall
turned a surplus bedroom into laboratory area, increasing
the main floor area to a total of 304 square yards. A new
overseer was installed at Simla, a reliable French Trinidad-
ian.
GIFTS AND LOANS - For the second year, from the United States
Weather Bureau we received the loan of a unique Sunshine Re-
corder and a Hygro-thermograph, providing continued meteoro-
logical data for our ecological report. Again we express
our hearty thanks to the Alcoa Steamship Company for gener-
ous support in transportation of personnel and luggage, and
adequate care of delicate scientific instruments. Mr. Samuel
Ordway made the invaluable gift of a Plymouth station wagon .
Mrs. Busch Greenough provided for the construction of a gen-
erator house, and Mr. Curt Reisinger gave a powerful 5,000-
watt Kohler generator with automatic starter.
ZOOLOGICAL PARK - Certain living animals were sent north to
the Zoological Park, collected by members of the staff and
by Edwin McConkey0 They included a six-inch Peripatus (Peri-
patus sp„?) and 2 Mouse Opossums (Marmosa mitis chapmani ) ;
13 snakes as follows i Boa Constrictor (Boa £. constrictor ),
Brown Tree Boa (Corallus enydris cooki) , Anaconda (Eunectes
murinus gigas) , Tiger Snake (Drymarchon corais corais), Whip
Snake (Thalerophis richardi coeruleodorsus) , Brown Tree
Snake (Oxybelis ;a0 aeneus ) , Large-headed Snake (Imantodes £„
cenchoa), Pink-bellied Snake (Leimadophis melanotus ) and
Ferdelance (Bothrops a, atrox) ; 2 Lizards, a House Gecko
(Thecadactylus rapicaudus) and a Tegu (Tupinambis nigropunc-
tatus); 129 frogs and toads, Marine Toad (Bufo marinus ) ,
Yellow- throated Marsupial Frog (Eupemphix pus tulosus trini-
tatis), Green-backed Hyla (Phyllomedusa burmeisteri) , Gough's
Hyla (Hyla goughi), Minute Hyla (Hyla" minuta ) , Small Blue-
green Hyla (Hyla punctata), Lined Hyla (Hyla rubra) and Para-
dox Frog (Pseudis paradoxa) .
The ten-year-old Lost in the Jungle exhibit in the Heads
and Horns building in the Zoological Park still attracts a
large number of visitors. As has been customary throughout
most of the past thirty years, Dr.Beebe gave a brief address
at the Annual Meeting of the Society, illustrated by a fur-
ther series of Miss Crane's color motion pictures of tropi-
cal wild life. As exhibits there was shown a collection of
several hundred of the more striking butterflies and moths
of Simla.
RELATION WITH INSTITUTIONS - The Trinidad British Colonial
Government and our American Naval Base again co-operated cor-
dially, and we held the usual seminars for students from the
Imperial College. New relations have been established with
51
the British Museum (Natural History) . We are sending collec-
tions of Geometridae, Cerambicidae, Diptera and other in-
sects to the foremost authorities in that institution, and
are receiving identifications and papers for publication in
Zoologica .
Three important gifts of fish collections were made by
the Department to three American institutions „ Several thou-
sand deeps ea Pacific fish were sent to Stanford University
together with a collection of several hundred specimens clear-
ed by the potassium hydroxide method.
A collection of West Coast shore fish was presented to
the /oner i can Museum of Natural History „ A collection of
14,500 fish and invertebrates collected by the Department
around Bermuda went to the United States National Museum. It
is a source of satisfaction that these collections of the De-
partment have gone to institutions which are actively inter-
ested in studying deepsea and shore fishes.
The mantid collections, which form the bases for two pa-
pers already published in Zoologica, were divided between
the United States National Museum and the Philadelphia Acad-
emy of Sciences, in return for the co-operation in systematic
problems of their staff members, Dr. Robert Gurney and Dr„
JoA.G. Rehn respectively.
Point Four assistance to European scientists, which was
instituted by Mr. Fairfield Osborn and developed by Dr. Ross
Nigrelli, had its initial idea in the report made by Miss
Jocelyn Crane upon her visit to five European countries last
year. The undertaking has amply justified its impetus.
CONSERVATION - Consultations with the Trinidad departments
concerned with forests, fish and game have helped in attain-
ing several important results. Attempts have been frustrat-
ed at wholesale seining of streams for tropical fish, and
their transportation by plane for commercial purposes, and
also the shooting and skinning of birds by paid collectors „
Restrictions upon trapping birds and shooting out of season
have been strengthened, and help in these respects has been
rendered by the police. One favorable development has been
the increase in price of shotgun shells, from 90 cents to
$5.25 a box.
TRIPS - Ten trips to caves were made by Henry Fleming and
Ellen Ordway, some toAripo and others to the Guacharo Caves.
Among other creatures collected were several so-called "Lu-
minous" Lizards c General results have yet to be reported
upon. Other insular trips were made to Manzanillo Beach and
to Pseudis Pond.
Extra-insular expeditions included a week in Surinam, a
reconnaissance of Moengo, the site of Alcoa!s bauxite mines,
to explore possibilities of future work. Miss Crane spent
52
several weeks en route home, in Panama and Guatemala, carry-
ing on further studies of fiddler crabs.
WEATHER - In strong contrast with last year's record rain-
fall, the year of 1952 was one of record drought. The total
precipitation was 72.23 as compared with 117.4 inches. The
effect upon flora and fauna is discussed in ecological stud-
ies. Our water supply was reduced to a mere trickle, but
even this was sufficient to supply our basic needs, thanks
to our having enlarged the storage tanks during previous sea-
sons .
CONSTRUCTION - The major new installations were a commodious
generator house, capable of housing three generators and to
serve as a general tool room; the installation of a new and
powerful generator; and the providing of an adequate carpen-
ter shop and a garage to house our two cars. All of this
construction was done under the supervision of Henry Fleming.
VISITORS AND INVESTIGATORS - We had an unusually large num-
ber of interesting and interested visitors. Among them we
may mention His Excellency the Governor Sir Hubert and Lady
Ranee, Major Senior-White and Dr. Littlepage, Lady O'Reilly,
Consul General Hale, Mr. Lamb, head of the Forestry Division,
Dr. Mars ton Bates and Dr. Hill of the Rockefeller Foundation,
Edward Collins, Thornton Burgess, Mr. and Mrs . Sherman Haight,
Captain and Mrs. William Deems, Commanding the Naval Base,
Mr. A0T. Shill of H.M. Customs and Senor and Senora Armando
Planchart .
Our prize visitors were William Bridges and Sam Dunton
of the Zoological Society who spent three weeks at Simla,
making a motion picture record of the field activities of
the staff, for showing at the Annual Meeting of the Society.
It was both hard work and good fun and they were highly pleas-
ed with the results.
Mr. Edwin McConkey, a former pupil of Dr. James Oliver,
was devoting a year of residence in Trinidad to the collect-
ing and study of amphibians and reptiles. He spent a week
with us at Simla, helping materially with our ecological sur-
vey, besides carrying on his own worke He also gathered
living frogs, lizards and snakes which were shipped to our
Zoological Park.
Among visiting investigators were Dr. and Mrs . Franz
Schrader of the Department of Genetics, Columbia University.
Mrs. Schrader pooled her ecological mantid data with ours,
to join Beebe and Crane as co-author of one of the papers
recently published in Zoologica .
SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES - During the year the scientific ac-
tivities of the staff took on the appearance of the integrat-
53
ed whole which has been planned since the inception of the
Trinidad Station. As always, our major aims have been to
study the endless adaptations of successful living among ani-
mals, and to understand their relations with one another,
A fundamental investigation, which was shared by all mem-
bers of the staff, was the carrying to completion of the eco-
logical survey of the Arima Valley and its life. This in-
cluded data on its physical geography, rainfall, humidity,
temperature, sunshine, wind, biotic zones, general botany
and zoology, as well as lists of all the vertebrates so far
recorded from the research area. All of these have impor-
tant influences on the presence and abundance and habits of
animal life. These basic data are of constant use to us in
our studies, and will be equally so to future investigators.
This is especially true of the recording of phenological
facts, which include the flowering seasons of trees and other
plants and the breeding cycles of birds.
The first report from the Station on a particular group
of animals, the mantids, formed another finished contribu-
tion. This, in turn, served as a necessary foundation for a
comparative study of defensive behavior in mantids, which was
completed simultaneously. The peculiar behavior of a cater-
pillar, Colobura, in protecting itself from enemies, is the
subject of another paper. The latter is one of a series of
comparative studies of innate, adaptive behavior in newly
hatched insects.
These four first contributions from the Simla Station
(Contribution Nos . 927, 928, 930 and 931) were readied for
Zoologica in New York during the summer and autumn and were
published at the year's end.
Trinidad studies which are under way include reports on
the day-flying moths, with special reference to their butter-
fly-like habits ; flocking and reproductive behavior in cer-
tain birds; color discrimination in butterflies and primi-
tive bees ; the role of visible color and the ultraviolet in
the feeding and courting of various insects; and social be-
havior in butterflies. Also in preparation is a handbook to
the birds of Trinidad.
Collections and observations made at Kartabo, British
Guiana, and at Rancho Grande, Venezuela, are still being
studied by the staff and by specialists connected with other
institutions. There have been also published this year two
papers on fish; one dealing with our Bermuda deepsea expe-
ditions, and the other on Pacific shore fish taken on the
"Zaca" expeditions.
PUBLICATIONS - Twenty contributions, directly from or relat-
ed to the Department, were published in 1952. Of these,
eight appeared in Animal Kingdom , and an equal number in Zo-
logica.
54
CONTRIBUTIONS - 1952
912- Annual Report of the Department of Tropical Research for
1951. William Beebee Pp. 47-52.
913- Bridge to Nature. Report to Members of the New York Zo-
logical Society for 1951, p. 16 .
914- Scarlet, Blue, Purple, Gold; Review of Flowering Trees.
William Beebe. Tribune Book Magazine, 1951.
915- Grand Tour - Zoological Style. Jocelyn Crane. Animal
Kingdom. Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 2-9.
916- My Pocket Pet. William Beebe . This WeekMagazine. Jan. 13.
917- Indivi duals All: A First Report from Expedition No. 50.
William Beebe. Animal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 34-37.
918- Deep-sea Fishes of the Bermuda Oceanographic Expeditions.
Families Cetomimidae and Rondeletiidae . Robert R. Harry.
Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 55-72.
919- Out of This World: Simla in Pictures. William Bridges.
Animal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 84-87.
920- Four New Species of Geometridae (Moths ) from Rancho Grande,
North-central Venezuela. D.S. Fletcher. Zoologica, Vol.
37, No. 10, pp. 101-104.
921- Contribution to the Classification of Blennoid Fishes of
the Family Clinidae . Clark Hubbs , Stanford Ichthyolog-
ical Bulletin, 4 (2), pp. 41-165 (in part) .
922- River Trip, with Orchids and a Caterpillar. William
Beebe. Animal Kingdom. Vol. 55, No. 4, pp. 114-118.
923- Paradox Pond Revisited. William Bridges . Animal King-
dom, Vol. 55, No. 4, pp. 127-130.
924- An Announcement to Our Members. Fairfield Osbom. Ani-
mal Kingdom, Vol. 55, No. 4, pp. 6-7.
925- The Turquoise Tapir of Totonicapan. Jocelyn Crane. Ani-
mal Kingdom. Vol. 55, No. 5, pp. 138-145.
926- The Mutillidae (Wasps) of British Guiana. Clarence E.
Mickel. Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 11, pp. 105-150.
927- Introduction to the Ecology of the Arima Valley, Trini-
dad, B.W.I. William Beebe. Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 13,
pp. 157-183.
928- A Contribution to the Life History of Colobura (Gynaecia
auct.) dirce dirce (Linnaeus). (Butterfly) . William
Beebe. Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 16, pp. 199-202.
929- The Satumioidea (Moths) of Rancho Grande, North-central
Venezuela. Henry Fleming. Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 17,
pp. 203-207.
930- An Annotated List of the Mantids (Orthoptera, Mantoidea)
of Trinidad, B.W.I. William Beebe, Jocelyn Crane & Sal-
ly Hughes-Schrader. Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 19, pp.
245-258.
931~A Comparative Study of Innate Defensive Behavior in Trin-
idad Mantids (Orthoptera, Mantoidea). Jocelyn Crane.
Zoologica, Vol. 37, No. 20, pp. 259-293.
55
MEMBERSHIP
Donald T. Carlisle, Chairman
Membership Committee
DURING 1952 Society membership totals were apparently sta-
bilized, and the year ended with a slight gain over the pre-
ceding one — there being 3,115 members of record of all classes
on December 31. Annual memberships showed a slight decline
while Contributing members increased to the number of 659.
The addition of 285 new Annual memberships during the year
was not sufficient to offset losses, although a good part of
the decline was due to shifts from Annual to Contributing
status — a most gratifying trend. Over 25$ of our total dues-
paying members are now in the Contributing category, and the
result of these shifts is reflected in the total dues col-
lections for the year of over $44,000, the highest total in
the Society?s history.
In our report for 1951 it was stated that a minimum gain
of 400 new members would appear to be necessary in order to
offset natural losses from deaths and resignations. This
calculation was fairly justified by the results for the year,
during which we gained a total of 448, including new Life
members, slightly more than enough to give us a small gain
for 1952.
As always, the best source of new members is old ones,
and names of prospects sent in by the membership continue to
constitute our best prospect list. We cannot urge too strong-
ly that members not only send us such names, but that they
also endeavor to bring in new memberships themselves inde-
pendently of the Membership Office. With the supremely in-
teresting program for the new year it should be easier than
ever to get us new members .
The fact is constantly being brought to our attention
that many of our members allow their memberships to lapse
without knowing that this has happened. These accidents oc-
cur in spite of our system of informing members a month in
advance that their dues are payable. We also allow three
months of "grace" after expiration, sending a series of month-
ly letters to all dues delinquents. We keep all names of
former members on file, and send them promotional material
when issued, and it is interesting to note the number of for-
mer friends who wish to be reinstated. It would help us all
and save the Society both time and expense if our members
would not allow their memberships to lapse.
An active membership is essential to our continued prog-
ress, and every friend can help by keeping up his own mem-
bership as well as by sending us new prospects.
56
SUMMARY OF MEMBERSHIP
Benefactors • 7
Founders in Perpetuity 13
Founders 14
Associate Founders » 6
Patrons 27
Life Members 382
Contributing Members 659
Annual Members 1,908
Honorary Members 2
Fellows o 85
Research Associates 2
Corresponding Members „. 10
Total 3,115
Corrected to January 1, 1953
57
THE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION
THE SOCIETY'S AFFILIATE, the Conservation Foundation, will
be celebrating a fifth birthday in the spring of 1953, and
members who are interested in the progress of this organiza-
tion are urged to write headquarters at 30 East 40th Street
for copies of the Foundation's report for the year 1952. This
publication will be available at an early date.
January, 1952, found a majority of the Foundation's staff
at work on the analysis of the six-year Alaska development
plan, a project which we undertook as consultants for the
United States Department of the Interior. Racing against a
February 1 deadline, the team organized and directed by Ex-
ecutive Vice-president Samuel H. Ordway, Jr., came through
on schedule and the report was in Washington on time. This
report has not yet been made available to those outside the
Government offices.
The program of the Research Department of the Foundation
went forward on a wide range of projects in all areas of the
renewable resources field. Perhaps the best appraisal of the
Department's activities is contained in its own report is-
sued in the fall of 1952, and quoted below:
Our research deals with many different aspects of the
development and use of renewable resources — soils,
water, forests and plant life, animal life. Research
programs in marine resources are also now being out-
lined formally. One major aspect deserving special
mention is research in the relation of population to
resources. A brief summary of the Foundation's re-
search studies, by resource and by approach, follows.
SOILS - Survey of Soil Erosion in the Western Hemi-
sphere , in collaboration with the Food and Agricul-
ture Organization of the United Nations. The Survey
will be used to promote soil- conservation programs
by governments in countries where the situation is
serious and the need for measures not sufficiently
realized. To be completed in 1953.
WATER - Projects completed or planned cover major as-
pects of water availability (as ground water) , water
control on the land, conversion of salt water to fresh,
and industrial water needs and use.
58
The present ground-water situation in the U.S.
was summarized in 1950-51, and presented with recom-
mendations for future development and research in
•The Conservation of Ground Water,' now in use as a
university text.
The role of vegetation in watershed management,
and its relation to flood and sediment control and
to water supply, is surveyed in a publication to ap-
pear in 1953. This study appraises present concepts
and experimental work to date, and outlines further
research needs .
An analysis of national flood-control policies
and of the present programs of governmental agencies
in this field is being actively planned. It is hop-
ed this study will contribute to progress in unified
river -basin planning by clarifying present issues.
To be initiated in 1953.
A technical evaluation of the possibility of con-
verting salt water to fresh on a large scale at low
cost is now being completed. A report will be re-
leased in 1953.
A survey of water use in industry was made in 1950
in collaboration with the National Association of
Manufacturers .
In the pulp and paper industry, a large water
user, we are now working with its Technical Associa-
tion on a more detailed study of water use and con-
servation possibilities If worthwhile, we intend
to promote further studies along similar lines by
other industries.
FOREST AND PLANT LIFE - A review of U.S. Forest Re-
sources was completed in 1952, and published under
the title 'Forests for the Future1 as a supplement
to the December issue of American Forests, the maga-
zine of the American Forestry Association. Its pur-
pose is to draw a balanced picture of the current
status and trends of the national timber supply in
relation to present and future requirements.
WILDLIFE - Field work in Alaska has recently been
completed by Frank Darling and A. Starker Leopold on
certain wildlife and related problems, primarily re-
garding the long-range effects of environmental chang-
es on the caribou and moose populations of the Ter-
ritory. Both a technical report and a book for the
general public will be issued in 1953.
MARINE RESOURCES - A preliminary study to define areas
of long-term research in the development and use of
59
marine resources will be completed in 1953. This
study is designed to guide the Foundation in sponsor-
ing projects that would promote the wider use of these
resources for human needs.
RESOURCE ADMINISTRATION - Statutory and legislative
barriers to conservation practice describes a research
project finished in 1951 at the School of Law, Uni-
versity of Pittsburgh. This is a study of the laws,
administrative structures and procedures of the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania related to the management
of renewable resources, and has in view the formula-
tion of general principles and practices which will
be most effective in this field. A model state law
will be drafted. The entire study will be publish-
ed sometime in 1953.
A seminar in the Economics of Land Use, estab-
lished in 1950 at the Harvard School of Public Ad-
ministration through the Foundation's aid, is analyz-
ing the obstacles preventing the application of prov-
ed conservation practices and techniques on the land.
This is a co-operative study by economists , political
scientists and sociologists with the participation
of Iittauer Fellows recruited from government tech-
nical conservation agencies. A publication is plan-
ned.
The Foundation has served as consultant to a com-
munity watershed association organized two years ago
in Princeton, New Jersey, in order to learn how sim-
ilar associations may be promoted elsewhere.
POPULATION IN RELATION TO RESOURCES - An important
facet of population study or demography is the as-
sessment of population trends in relation to the a-
vailability of natural resources. He have undertaken
a broad investigation of that relationship in order
to identify areas of opportunity for research and
action programs in this field. Numerous social, eco-
nomic and cultural factors which vitally affect both
population growth and the development and use of re-
sources will be evaluated. We shall give special at-
tention to the social barriers which hinder the at-
tainment of a proper balance between population and
resources, and to ways of overcoming them. Consider-
able emphasis is currently being placed on outlining
means of marshalling scientific effort in fertility
control.
IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION - In June, 1952, the Ford Founda-
tion asked the Conservation Foundation staff to make a study
60
of conservation education, preliminary to a conference to be
held at Purdue University in September — the first such con-
vocation ever to be held on this subject. The purpose of this
preliminary survey was to determine existing gaps and needs
and to suggest criteria and possible projects. Same fifty
individuals — teachers, educational administrators, government
officials and representatives of private conservation organ-
izations— were called upon for papers contributing their view-
points on conservation education needs. Some sixty-eight
educational specialists from twenty-six states gathered at
Purdue for this meeting of the National Committee on Policies
in Conservation Education, and the fifty papers gathered by
the Conservation Foundation were circulated in advance so
that the conferees were able to proceed at once with their
discussion of the points raised. It is planned to publish
the bulk of these papers at an early date, making them avail-
able to everyone interested in the work of getting public
acceptance of the conservation idea.
The Yale Conservation Project under Dr. Paul Sears will
complete its third year in June, 1953. The Foundation's com-
mitment in support of this program ends then but the Univer-
sity will continue the program with its own resources. In
the autumn of 1952 the Ford Foundation took over financial
support for the continuance of the seminar at the Harvard
School of Public Administration, funds for which had former-
ly been made available through the Conservation Foundation.
Both the Yale and Harvard experiences indicate the value of
the Conservation Foundation as a catalyst, initiating such
projects, arranging their preliminary support and seeing them
through to permanent acceptance by the institutions involved.
With the completion of the "Living Water" series, the
original four-year motion picture program of the Foundation's
Visual-Aid Department was concluded. This last of the four
educational films is in two reels, the first having to do
with water and its cycle in the state of nature, the second
dealing with what happens to this resource as a result of
man's carelessness. The distributor of these four sets of
films, "The Living Earth," "The Living Forest," the "Web of
Life" and the "Living Water," together with "Yours is the
land," is Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Inc. In a recent
letter to President Osborn, E.B.F. made the following com-
ment regarding these productions:
"Since your Living Earth Series has been released, more
prints from them have been actually purchased by schools and
adult groups than from any other comparable series that has
ever been released." Speaking of the first three series they
continue: "They are now in use in the schools of all the
major cities in the United States... According to our most
conservative estimates, the annual audience which sees and
61
studies these films will exceed two million people. It is
difficult to imagine the tremendous impact which this superb
series of films has upon American education unless one real-
izes that a new audience of this size for these films flows
through our schools each year."
62
THE JACKSON HOLE WILDLIFE PARK
and the
JACKSON HOLE RESEARCH STATION
of the
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
James R. Simon, Director
AT THE 1952 ANNUAL MEETING of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park
Board of Directors in August it was decided to convey the
Jackson Hole Wildlife Park to the National Park Service. For
several years the whole area has been within the National
Park as a result of the transfer of lands in extending the
boundaries of Grand Teton National Park. In addition to
buildings, including the Information Center and the residence
area, and the animals and equipment required for operation
of the Wildlife Park, a cash sum was provided from Wildlife
Park funds for National Park Service operation and mainte-
nance until July of 1953 when Federal appropriations will be
available. Since August the details of the transfer have
been worked out and the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, a Wyo-
ming corporation, was dissolved as of December 18, 1952,
It was with considerable satisfaction that the Board was
able to turn over to the Park Service a successful operation,
with a completely accident-free record, which had in a six-
year period proved itself of great interest to the traveling
public of America. It is believed that the purposes in es-
tablishing the Wildlife Park have been fulfilled— creating a
greater and more lasting interest in wildlife specifically,
and conservation generally, and it is hoped the National Park
Service will keep these aims in mind in future activities
there. Quite likely the National Park Service will operate
the Wildlife Park under the name "Display Area of Grand Teton
National Park" to prevent confusion which might arise from
having a Wildlife Park within a National Park. It is expect-
ed that the exhibit of large mammals will be continued much
as it was under the Society's direction.
During the 1952 season the Wildlife Park was visited by
approximately 120,000 people; this reflects an increase over
1951 in almost exact proportion, 14%, to the increase of vis-
itors to the larger areas, Yellowstone and Grand Teton Na-
tional Parks. There were 45,000 more visitors in 1952 than
in 1948, the first full summer's operation. The Wildlife
Park's constantly growing popularity, as well as improved
63
highways , were the factors largely responsible for this grati-
fying increase in attendance. Again in 1952 the Bison were
the biggest attraction with the Elk second in drawing power.
The Bison herd was exceptionally gentle during the season and
was always available for close inspection by visitors „ It
was a very attractive and well-balanced herd of twenty-eight
animals during the show season and drew considerable comment
because of its good condition. Many people saw Bison and Elk
for the first time and many more viewed them for the first
time in a natural setting. After the close of the summer
season ten animals were removed to prevent over-use of the
available space; three of these went to the Salt Lake City
Zoo and seven were taken by the State of Wyoming.
A comprehensive bird check list of the areas of Jackson
Hole, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park
was compiled and published during the year. This list was
well received by both amateur bird watchers and ornitholo-
gists visiting the region,, The Wildlife Park!s Popular Series
publications of last year on Elk and Moose are used currently
by National Parks in the Rocky Mountain area.
In the transfer of the Wildlife Park to the National Park
Service, approximately half the assets in buildings and prop-
erty were retained for the Jackson Hole Research Station of
the New York Zoological Society. For the use of the Research
Station there are about 120 acres of land, the laboratory,
the library, several small cabins, miscellaneous tools and
field equipment.
The research program of the 1952 season was outstanding.
Institutions represented were the Universities of California,
Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and Wyoming, California State
Polytechnic College, Utah State Agricultural College, Penn-
sylvania State College, Swarthmore College and Hampton Insti-
tute. Dr. Robert K. Enders of Swarthmore, who has been with
the Station irregularly since 1947, again acted as coordina-
tor of the research group while carrying on his own study of
mammal populations in the area. His duties were to assist
the director in academic help with the research group and to
arrange for college credit for some of the graduate students
on projects at the Station. Studies included Elk behavior,
range management, Moose-Beaver relationships, effects of
various altitudes on animal populations, life history studies
(birds and mammals), distribution of intestinal protozoa in
the larger mammals, and a problem on marking wild Elk in the
field. Publications are constantly being completed on these
studies and on those of past seasons.
64
TREASURER'S REPORTS
For the Year Ended December 31, 1952
Cornelius R. Agnew, Treasurer
30 East 40th Street
New York 16, N.Y.
65
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
BALANCE SHEET
December 31, 1952
Assets
Cash in banks and on hand $ 163,947.77
Investments (approximate market value $6,838,541.83) 5,601,704.32
Receivable from the City of New York:
Appropriations for Zoological Park
maintenance - calendar year 1952 $ 625,741.30
Less amount received 535,983.56 89,757.74
Other receivables 9,865.64
Inventories 19,892.57
Construction in progress (jointly with the
City of New York) - unencumbered balance
$12,722.57 100,000.00
Park facilities assets, less depreciation
(note 1):
Improvements to land and buildings in
Zoological Park 123,839.86
Equipment and miscellaneous items 85,785 .88 209,625.74
Prepaid expenses and deferred charges 8,614.27
National collection of heads and horns, art
gallery, library and sundry items 1.00
Collection of living animals 1.00
Jackson Hole Research Station buildings and
equipment 1 .00
| 6,203,411.05
Liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued expenses 39,172.06
Fund reserves
General Funds 4,373,154.28
Endowment Funds 1,155,025.00
Special Purpose Funds 363,632.53
Reserve for Educational and Other Purposes 33,686.62
Park Facilities Operating Fund 238.740.56
6,164,238.99
$
Notes :
(1) Park facilities assets are subject to an agreement with the City
of New York, and the net income from park facilities operations
may be used only for the purchase of animals and the improve-
ment of Zoological Park.
(2) This balance sheet does not include the assets and liabilities of
the Pension Fund.
(3) Except for income from Investments which is accounted for in the
year received, this balance sheet is prepared on an accrual
basis .
66
FUND RESERVES
December 31, 1952
General:
General Working Fund
Anna M. Harkness Fund
Sage Fund
Mary Clark Thompson Fund
Endowment:
George F. Baker Fund
Mary Thurston Cockroft Fund
Robert Jaffray Fund
William Pyle Philips Fund
Rockefeller Fund
Special Purpose:
Cadwalader Animal Fund
Conservation Account
Damon Fund
Grant Fund for the Protection of Wildlife
Laurance S. Rockefeller Fund
Jacob H. Schiff Fund
Stokes Bird Fund
The New Aquarium Fund
Miscellaneous
Reserve for Educational and Other Purposes
Park Facilities Operating Fund
(see note)
97,452.26
1,049,503.22
650,908.10
oou,;
2,575,i
4,373,:
'Or290.70
373,154.28
$ 107,620.17
28,807.23
13,531.39
10,113.97
994.952.24
1,155,025.00
19,620.91
19,519.23
15,633.75
24,329.46
125,815.57
105,115.51
4,938.01
18,959.25
29 . 700 . 84 363,632.53
33,686.62
238,740,56
$ 6,164,238.99
Note: Park facilities assets are subject to an agreement with the City
of New York and the net income from park facilities operations may be
used only for the purchase of animals and the improvement of
Zoological Park.
67
SUMMARY OF CHANGES IN FUND RESERVES
Year ended December 31,1952
General Funds
Balance at December 31, 1951 $ 4,339,560.84
Receipts and transfers 88f 716.69
4,428,277.53
Expenditures 55 , 123.25
Balance at December 31, 1952 $ 4,373,154.28
Endowment Funds
Balance at December 31, 1951 1,142,046.57
Receipts 12.978.43
Balance at December 31, 1952 $ 1,155-025.00
Special Purpose Funds
Balance at December 31, 1951 364,931.20
Receipts and appropriations 173.009.47
537,940.67
Expenditures 174.308. 14
Balance at December 31, 1952 $ 363,632.53
Reserve for Educational and Other Purposes
Balance at December 31, 1951 42,428.44
Appropriation 22.000.00
64,428.44
Expenditures 30.741. 82
Balance at December 31, 1952 $ 33,686.62
68
GENERAL WORKING FUND
Year ended December 31, 1952
Balance at December 31, 1951 $ 111,899.89
Add:
Gifts $ 25,897.25
Life memberships 2,325.00
Conservation film royalties 8,746.21
Pro-rata share of net profit on sales and
redemptions of investments 1,271.39
Value assigned to Jackson Hole Wildlife Re-
search Station buildings and equipment
acquired in 1952 1.00
Balance from general income account 2,434.77 40.675.62
152,575.51
Deduct:
Appropriation for membership and general
public relations activities for the year
1952:
Appropriated 22,000.00
Unexpended 2.657.08
19,342.92
Payment to Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, Inc. of
Society's share of the operating expenses
for the year 1952 12,500.00
Payment on account of appropriation for grants-
in-aid for the research activities of the
Jackson Hole Research Station 4,340.00
Grant to Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory 4,000.00
Payment for consulting services and supervision
of the Society's Conservation Film Program
and of the Zoological Park's Film Program
for the period from March 1 to December 31,
1952 5,500.00
Payment on account of grant for the production
of publications on the care and exhibition
of wild animals in captivity 1,312.47
Payment to provide maintenance and operating
funds for the tropical research station at
Trinidad, B.W.I, for the year ended April 30,
1953 8,000.00
Payment to the Pension Fund of the Society's
contribution on behalf of an employee over
45 years of age when admitted to the fund
in 1944 127.86
— — 55.123.25
Balance at December 31, 1952 $ 97,452.26
69
GENERAL INCOME ACCOUNT
Year ended December 31, 1952
Income:
Income from Investments $ 294 269.52
Annual dues 44 '238.' 68
Sales of publications 3,' 409! 18
Miscellaneous income 9^557*35
Total income $ 351.474.73
Expenses : *
Actuarial fee 633.00
Annual report 1,860.67
Aquarium research 4 922 11
Audit fee 2 ! 100 ! 00
Conservation 25,000.00
Custodian fees 3,161.00
Donations '125! 00
Educational activities 10, 861." 34
Employee welfare 3, 017! 50
Executive office 17,568.30
Group life insurance 5,011.19
Insurance 9, 252.' 39
Legal fees 2,621.91
Library 1,618.36
Members - meetings and services 19,034.36
Pensions:
Fund contribution - 150% of employee
contributions $ 18,810.69
Auxiliary payments 6,098.04 24,908.73
Photography - salaries and supplies 8,059.64
Publication expenses:
Salaries and other expenses 17,842.30
"Animal Kingdom" 13,052.74
"Zoologica" 10,670.85 41,565.89
Reception expense 2,301.51
Social security taxes 838.80
Traveling expense 4,998.54
Tropical research 15,825.00
Miscellaneous expense 2,392. 18
207,677.42
Appropriation for reserve for educational and
other purposes 22,000.00
Park maintenance expenditures for the year 1952 745,103.84
Less amount provided by New York City 625,741.30
Amount expended by New York Zoological Society 119,362.54
Balance carried to General Working Fund 2,434. 77
$ 351,474.73
Note: Except for income from investments which is accounted for in the
year received, this statement is prepared on an accrual basis.
70
PARK FACILITIES
Statement of Income and Expense and Operating Fund
Year ended December 31, 1952
Balance of Park Facilities Operating Fund at
December 31, 1951 $ 217,902.89
Receipts from sales at restaurants, stands,
etc. and from services $ 849,459.85
Less:
Cost of merchandise sold $ 275,805.78
Salaries and commissions 342,002.18
Operating and maintenance
supplies 78,351.57
Depreciation 21,855.83
Comprehensive public liability
insurance 28,280.40
Other operating and general
25.326.42 771.622.18
Net income from sales at restaurants,
etc. and from services (see note)
stands,
77,
837.
,67
295,
740,
,56
Deduct:
Appropriations for park improvements
Appropriations for the purchase of animals
47,000.00
10.000.00
57,
000,
,00
Balance of Park Facilities Operating Fund at
December 31, 1952
$ 238,
740,
.56
Note: Park facilities assets are subject to an agreement with the City
of New York, and the net income from park facilities' operations may
be used only for the purchase of animals and the improvement of
Zoological Park.
71
GIFTS AND GRANTS RECEIVED
Year ended December 31,1952
Cancer Research:
American Philosophical Society-
National Cancer Institute
Damon Runyon Memorial Fund for Cancer Research
Conservation Account:
Childs Frick
DeForest Grant Scientific Research Fund:
DeForest Grant
General Fund:
Anonymous
George F. Baker, Jr.
Co Suydam Cutting
Mrs. Childs Frick
Childs Frick
David McAlpin
John H. Phipps
Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc.
John Roger
The Thome Foundation
Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, Inc.:
Laurance S. Rockefeller
The New Aquarium Fund:
John Elliott
Mrs. Childs Frick
Childs Frick
Others (2)
Special Projects:
The Bay Foundation, Inc.
The Roger Benjamin Fund, Inc.
Percy Chubb, II
Corporation Trust Company
Dr. Richard B. Dominick
Mrs. Lammot du Pont
Mrs. E. John Heidsieck
Gilbert W. Kahn
Miss Winifred Kirkland
Carried forward
750.00
600.00
2.500.00
3,850.00
1,000.00
2,000.00
1,000.00
1,000.00
2,000.00
2,000.00
6,977.25
1,000.00
2,420.00
2,500.00
5,000.00
2.000.00 25,897.25
15,313.85
100.00
5,000.00
13,843.75
6.00 18,949.75
25.00
50.00
100.00
250.00
25.00
75.00
86.62
250.00
75.00
936.62 67,010.85
72
GIFTS AND GRANTS RECEIVED (Continued)
Brought forward $ 67,010.85
Special Projects, continued:
Brought forward $ 936.62
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane
Charitable Foundation, Inc. 260.00
Hubert E. and Anna Rogers Foundation, Inc. 100.00
The Scherman Foundation, Inc. 200.00
James Talcott Fund, Inc. 25.00
Time, Incorporated 250.00
Mrs. Seymour Wadsworth 50.00
Ogden White 50»00
Others (15) 111.33
1,972.95
For Department of Tropical Research:
Anonymous $ 500.00
Dr. William Beebe 1,000.00
Mrs. Busch Gre enough 1,000.00
Curt H. Reisinger 1.000.00 3,500.00
For Wildlife Preserves, Inc. of .
New Jersey:
Anonymous 250.00
— — — 5.722.95
$ 72,733.80
PERMANENT WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND
Cash % 282.60
Investments (approximate market value $159,695.00) 131.004.26
Amount of Fund at December 31, 1952 $ 131,286.86
73
THE PENSION FUND
(Founded by Andrew Carnegie)
Statement of Operations
Year ended December 31 , 1952
Balance at December 31. 1951:
Investments (approximate market value
$966,200.00)
Uninvested balance of cash
Receipts:
Income from investments:
Interest
Dividends
$ 13,276,
25.843,
Contributions by employees
Contributions by New York Zoological
Society (150# of contributions by
employees ) :
Society $ 18,808.45
Facilities 3.771.20
Special contributions with respect
to permanent employees over 45
years of age:
Contributions by employees
Contributions by New York
Zoological Society
Interest on special contributions
Expenditures:
Refunds on account of resignations
Pension disbursements
39,120,
15,053,
$ 849,098.89
53.609.14
902,708.03
52
57
09
07
22,579.65
675.10
141.44 816.
125,
Profit (net) on sale of investments (Schedule 2)
Balance at December 31, 1952:
Investments (approximate market value
$1,089,055.13) 941,819,
Uninvested balance of cash 27.087.
54
28 77.694.63
980,402.66
2,251.17
'1.679.07 23.930.24
956,472.42
12.434.40
,82
74
Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co.
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTAJJTS
SEVENTY PINE STREET
NEW YORK 3.N.Y.
ACCOUNTANTS' REPORT
The Board of Trustees
New York Zoological Society
New York, N. Y.
We have examined the balance sheet of the New York
Zoological Society as of December 31, 1952 and statements of
the transactions of the various funds of the Society and of the
Pension Fund for the. year then ended. Our examination was made
in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, and
accordingly included such tests of the accounting records and
such other auditing procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances.
We made a test-check of the subscriptions, donations
and dues reported as received and of the income from investments,
and found such items to be properly recorded. The securities
recorded in the various funds were in agreement with schedules
and other supplementary data prepared by the custodian of such
securities held for the account of the Society. Bank balances
were confirmed directly to us by the depositaries and were
reconciled with the respective cash balances recorded in the
accounts. We examined approved vouchers and paid checks for a
number of representative expenditures.
Park facilities 1 assets are carried in the accounts
at net depreciated book amounts as of December 31, 1940 plus
subsequent additions at cost, less retirements. Provision for
depreciation from January 1, 1941 to December 31, 1952 has been
computed on the resulting book balances.
In our opinion, subject to the comments contained
in the previous paragraph, the accompanying balance sheet and
statements of transactions of the various funds of the Society
present fairly the financial position of the Society at Decem-
ber 31, 1952 on the basis stated therein, and the changes in
the funds of the Society for the year then ended, in conformity
with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a basis
consistent with that of the preceding year.
N6W Y?&UaVi6, 1953 J^JUVU^. AjZ^. ^
75
\
REPORT OF THE AUDI TING COMMITTEE
OF THE
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
To the President and Board of Trustees
of the New York Zoological Society
Dear Sirs:
He have examined the reports of Peat, Marwick,
Mitchell & Company on their examination of the accounts of
the New York Zoological Society, the Permanent Wild Life Pro-
tection Fund, and the Pension Fund of the Society for the
year ended December 31, 1952 . These reports indicate that
the records of the Society have been examined in accordance
with generally accepted auditing standards, and certify that
the accounts of the Society, as set forth on the balance
sheet and statements of various funds, present fairly the
financial position of the Society as of December 31, 1952.
These reports also indicate that test checks have
been made of the subscriptions, donations, dues and income
from investments; that the securities recorded in the various
funds were in agreement with the schedules and other supple-
mentary data prepared by the custodian, City Bank Farmers
Trust Company; and that bank balances have been confirmed by
the depositaries.
We accordingly submit Messrs „ Peat, Marwick, Mitch-
ell & Company's reports to you as a satisfactory audit of
the accounts of the Society, including the Fund Reserves,
General Income Account, Pension Fund Account and the Facili-
ties Account.
Respectfully submitted,
Percy Chubb, 2nd, Chairman
William DeForest Manice
J. Watson Webb
March 25, 1953
76
SUMMARY OF EXPENDITURES, 1896 to 1952, New York Zoological Society and the
and the Aquarium, Including the Purchase of Collections a
City of New York, on Account of the Development and Maintenance of the Zoological Park
nd Also for the Scientific and General Purposes of This Society.
ZOOLOGICAL SOC1
Zoological Park
$ 30,000.00
40,000.00
65,000.00
85,000.00
104,965.00
104,965.00
134,965.00
144,965.00
141,558.75
154,627.00
162,325.00
167,632.00
174,632.00
182,365.00
191,925.00
200,000.00
200,000.00
197,074.35
199,560.00
207,586.00
190,000.00
250,098.27
$125,000.00
$ 2,470.1
$ 4,213.63
6,424.61
23,597.80
145,495.80
34,626.24
$ 1,292.16
7,038.61
6,189.33
$ 8,540.72
3,784.32
102.76
88.13
,959.97
,453.68
,439.72
,968.50
,987.71
,183.87
,157.27
,971.44
,974.86
300,000.00
250,000.00
280,000.00
315,000.00
275,000.00
250,000.00
100,000.00
65,000.00
10,000.00
89,500.00
2,998.80
4,256.50
5,912.95
5,421.90
6,849.00
8,132.35
8,248.65
9,446.40
9,992.75
18,348.61
5,908.69
1,038.20
1,013.87
144.00
778.48
370.72
232.27
2,860.92
5,918.35
3,714.37
2,757.57
,560.21
,597.08
,335.62
,995.53
,991.66
,996.43
,903.61
,630.71
,000.00
,971.48
155,000.00
'29,100.66
"2i.425.66
5,000.00
15,000.00
$ 9,237.81
9,175.86
9,599.81
3,488.31
2,642.70
4,917.84
17,438.28
11,611.15
11,838.40
12,404.25
3,831.15
1,155.00
40.00
218.45
2,175.13
887.88
425.30
1,450.05
48.12
$ 3,450.00
4,095.03
11,537.79
1,580.00
19,924.00
5,141.92
$ 93.61
407.07
11,652.24
20,983.07
20,361.62
14,299.61
20,643.40
14,907.36
10,606.03
4,231.61
9,734.43
4.339.25
6,059.89
22,750.18
10,665.57
22,590.44
13,629.41
13,511.12
10,175.70
8,425.92
13,345.59
32,761.08
973.90
892.71
735.77
7,340.82
2,036.39
1,191.80
1,350.03
1,850.25
1,792.99
1,466.64
2,193.57
1,637.15
960.19
1,028.05
1,654.02
1,615.38
556.94
486.00
338.73
1,024.91
1,031.47
18.12
18.61
88.27
263.86
$3,333.33
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
462.20
224.73
456.03
887.16
418.10
319.16
644.05
1,313.87
609.56
1,021.87
1,221.26
1,031.55
732.97
3,541.15
4,181.24
1,555.12
2,869.20
3,559.85
1,442.07
2,517.64
276,951.01
264,618.05
262,724.50
262,471.01
262,808.69
273,815.12
276,855.19
319,380.50
338,359.00
350,170.92
65,203.12
63,341.26
57,166.63
57,319.20
58,324.89
62,266.20
65,216.89
88,109.12
71,229.35
81,343.46
86,000.00
25,000.00
' '7,97'6.66
85,000.00
1,500.00
100,000.00
50,000.00
25,463.77
17,060.00
18,388.20
16,806.00
19,974.05
20,102.90
18,960.48
18,106.25
21,957.80
20,834.91
88,734.92
50,888.65
5,000.00
2,480.06
13,095.54
2,500.89
53,635.02
16,153.03
1,395.00
' 984.85
375.00
6,068.17
10,074.88
19,019.09
28,956.34
38,793.01
45,467.10
61,968.22
52,676.35
59,673.38
65,600.39
976.47
3,326.28
3,319.44
8,097.14
4,380.45
7,261.21
11,656.97
10,776.84
13,670.81
16,966.30
27,442.59
43,047.41
24,456.20
11,560.62
20,843.01
23,460.04
27,545.92
21,001.88
23,783.69
17.492.92
2,165.05
3,057.91
1,432.89
2,013.88
2,609.55
2,847.35
2,861.55
2,912.97
3,572.14
1,355.56
2,661.67
7,191.93
1,550.69
942.34
667.78
306.32
135.00
107.89
669.48
639.04
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
8,000.00
10,000.00
4,698.24
1,765.78
3,391.96
1,938.77
1,174.24
562.40
2,477.37
1.168.15
4,029.63
2,726.37
349,344.95
337,490.01
268,633.38
257,423.08
265,630.94
265,057.37
267,192.29
282,759.71
283,280.81
282,761.15
,071.24
,814.24
,806.61
,203.46
,760.95
,807.74
,225.20
,164.23
,905.12
14,890.58
16,710.25
13,961.02
11,025.88
11,596.51
13,496.42
11,527.85
10,235.70
11,019.23
8,392.10
5,131.68
1,852.40
1,037.19
' 100 66
102,343.87
65,601.03
61,127.48
62,996.66
66,502.59
60,237.94
57,270.94
56,262.45
57,043.10
51,050.57
57,513.25
19,541.40
19,155.01
18,120.73
18,229.23
18,832.57
17,886.45
16,408.55
13,408.11
12,941.70
12,022.76
24,439.56
20,039.28
7,644.14
9,267.86
16,530.28
20,918.46
22,417.08
15,351.51
23,012.27
39,627.52
3,650.58
1,934.84
2,199.91
1,641.06
2,031.56
2,867.50
2,799.17
558.82
403.75
577.10
1,707.40
335.00
118.65
162.86
275.21
178.43
24.79
' 175.66
10,000.00
10,000.00
10,000.00
10,000.00
10,000.00
10,000.00
19,047.09
20,455.95
20,475.95
20,069.17
6,713.26
3,607.97
3,384.38
606.53
383.07
470.18
1,415.39
431.41
345.30
533.85
286.284.59 62,052.95
258,656.76 50,931.00
305,203.23 33,324.31
315.787.82 33,790.82
334,288.37 38,158.81
366,113.74 42,654.03
440.147.60 40,285.04
469.638.83 38,564.40
497,900.12 40,189.02
506,035.90 40,188.48
553,918.55 42,774.35
579,931.76 45,809.54
Add Premium on Bonds, less
Balances Reverting to the City
35,559.!
15,947.33
10,169.20
11,904.80
17,316.09
20,745.35
24,688.34
22,665.64
30,690.08
25,400.02
23,731.77
28,913.22
27,588.02
187,408.02
43,088.43
38,860.03
32,101.60
58,943.48
122,388.48
101,392.80
93,683.84
344,122.56
62,598.22
69,747.69
40,542.32
3,500.00
23,420.00
225.52
'34,997.55
•19,669.26
116.71
•4,203.50
84,254.19
49,226.40
51,833.51
50,691.82
58,846.39
62,439.25
85,294.53
83,652.16
82,044.22
85.411.22
94,063.94
105,641.48
9,466.70
4,807.79
5,154.21
3,717.28
5,928.38
6,742.70
8,715.67
9,419.90
11,170.76
11,404.61
12,966.97
13,721.06
57,236.77
8,369.36
2,319.36
5,106.59
11,466.19
43,037.09
71,342.79
26,461.29
50,408.80
22,947.59
17,934.34
18,806.08
574.40
553.52
336.19
96.48
460.34
172.30
687.91
470.63
1,370.90
767.71
613.19
665.69
18,206.34
10,762.57
9,832.98
10,234.06
12,681.89
14,238.14
15,751.26
16,708.48
31,251.50
35,049.90
17,936.21
18,938.55
1,316.89
401.65
574.01
405.52
1,001.92
741.14
690.03
1,004.40
1,220.17
970.52
1,365.34
1,618.36
Expended in Connection with Preparation and Publication of "A Monograph of the Pheasants"
Expended in Connection with Galapagos Expedition - Gift of Harrison Williams
Transfer by the Society of Endowment for Pension Fund— July 1, 1941
Gift of Col. Anthony R. Kuser
194,100.00
98.670.00
$13,990,878.32 |$ 2,758,489.09 |$ 2,681.477.52 || $636,770.37 | $120,443.93 | [$1,730,421.79 | $194,453.92 |$1.938,372.17 | $350,695.13 | $1,073,91 T.05 | $66.360.99 [ $34,297.46 | $724,496.82 | $82,333.87 | $5,:
$19,430,844.93
Ml.iS;,SVl7.67
applied to architects' fees for plans for development of the Zoological Park, the other half for architects' fees for plans for the proposed new Aquarium. The City has appropriated an aggregate of 180 000.00 for these i
•
NEK YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
INCORPORATION of the New York Zoological Society by the State
of New York was accomplished under Chapter 435 of the Laws of
1895 and the basic purposes of the Society were embodied in
Section 2:
Said corporation shall have power to es-
tablish, maintain and control zoological
parks, gardens, or other collections for
the promotion of zoology and kindred sub-
jects, and for the instruction and recre-
ation of the people. Said corporation
may collect, hold, and expend funds for
zoological research and publication, for
the protection of wild animal life, and
for kindred purposes, and may promote,
form, and co-operate with other associa-
tions with similar purposes, and may pur-
chase, sell, or exchange animals, plants,
and specimens appropriate to the objects
for which it was created.
Subsequently, at a special meeting of the Commissioners
of the Sinking Fund, City of New York, heldonMarch 24, 1897,
a resolution was passed allotting South Bronx Park for the
use of the New York Zoological Society and establishing the
terms of a management agreement under which the Society has
operated since that date, with only minor modifications.
The resolution of March 24, 1897, and the supplemental
agreement of January 24, 1942, provided that the Society
should furnish the original equipment of buildings and ani-
mals, that it should raise $250,000 by subscription within
three years of the date of starting work on the improvement
of the grounds, that the Society should have the right to es-
tablish an endowment fund to be used solely for the general
uses and purposes of the Society unless otherwise specified
by the donors, that the City of New York should provide funds
for the maintenance and care of the Zoological Park and for
the maintenance of the animal collections, that the Zoologi-
cal Park should be open to the public free at least four days
a week, that the Society may expend the net proceeds of fa-
cilities only for the purchase of animals and the improvement
of the Zoological Park and that the Society should have the
right to make and control all appointments of employees and
to fix salaries and make promotions.
77
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Organized 1895
Presidents
I. Andrew H. Green 0 .. 1895 to 1897
II. Levi P. Morton e 1897 to 1909
III. Henry Fairfield Osborn 1909 to 1925
IV. Madison Grant 1925 to 1937
V. W. Redmond Cross 1937 to 1940
VI. Fairfield Osborn 1940
First Vice-Presidents
I. J. Hampton Robb 1895 to 1897
II. Henry Fairfield Osborn 1897 to 1909
III. Samuel Thome 1909 to 1916
IV. Madison Grant 1916 to 1925
V. Frank K. Sturgis 1925 to 1932
VI. W. Redmond Cross 1932 to 1937
VII. Kermit Roosevelt 1937 to 1939
VIII. Alfred Ely 1939
Second Vice-Presidents
I. Charles E. Whitehead 1895 to 1902
II. John L. Cadwalader 1902 to 1915
III. Madison Grant 1915 to 1916
IV. Frank K. Sturgis •. . . . 1916 to 1925
V. Henry D. Whiton 1925 to 1930
VI. Kermit Roosevelt 1930 to 1937
VII. Alfred Ely 1937 to 1939
VIII. Laurance S. Rockefeller 1939
Treasurers
I. L. V. F. Randolph 1895 to 1901
II. Charles T. Barney 1901 to 1903
III. Percy Rivington Pyne 1903 to 1922
IV. Cornelius R. Agnew 1922
78
Secretaries
I. Madison Grant 1895 to 1925
II. William White Niles 1925 to 1935
IH. Fairfield Osborn 1935 to 1940
IV. Harold J. 0»Connell 1941
Chairmen, Executive Committee
I. Charles E. Whitehead 1895 to 1896
II. Henry Fairfield Osborn 1896 to 1903
III. Charles T. Barney 1903 to 1907
IV. Henry Fairfield Osborn 1907 to 1909
V. Madison Grant 1909 to 1937
VI. W. Redmond Cross 1937 to 1940
VII. Laurance S. Rockefeller 1940 to 1943
VIII. Fairfield Osborn 1943 to 1945
IX. Laurance S„ Rockefeller 1945
Directors
I. William T. Hornaday,
Zoological Park 1896 to 1926
II. Charles H. Townsend,
New York Aquarium 1902 to 1937
III. W. Reid Blair,
Zoological Park 1926 to 1940
IV. Allyn R. Jennings 0. 1940 to 1941
V. Charles M. Breder, Jr.,
New York Aquarium 1937 to 1943
VI. John Tee- Van,
Zoological Park 1952
79
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
City of New York
Ex- officio
Hon. Vincent R. Impellitteri, The Mayor
Hon. Robert Moses, Commissioner of Parks
Class
Archibald S. Alexander
Harry Payne Bingham
A. Raymond Dochez
Robert G. Goelet
DeForest Grant
Eugene Holman
of 1953
Warren Kinney
William DeForest Manice
Harold J. O'Connell
Landon K. Thome
J. Watson Webb
Ogden White
Class of 1954
Cornelius R. Agnew
Percy Chubb, 2nd
C. Suydam Cutting
Alfred Ely
Marshall Field
Childs Frick
Henry Clay Frick
Archer M. Huntington
David H. McAlpin
John H. Phipps
Clendenin J. Ryan
Harrison Williams
Class of 1955
George F. Baker, Jr.
George C. Clark
F. Trubee Davison
John Elliott
Robert I. Gannon, S.J.
Peter Grimm
Fairfield Osborn
Eben Pyne
Laurance S. Rockefeller
Archibald B. Roosevelt
John M. Schiff
Edwin S. Webster.
80
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
Fairfield Osborn, President
Alfred Ely,
Laurance S. Rockefeller,
Donald T. Carlisle,
Vice Presidents
Harold J. OfConnell, Secretary
Cornelius R. Agnew, Treasurer
General Office:
30 East 40th Street
New York 16, N.Y.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Laurance S. Rockefeller, Chairman
PENSION BOARD
Fairfield Osborn, Chairman
Cornelius R. Agnew,
David H. McAlpin
Robert Moses,
ex officio
Harold J. 0»Connell
ex-officio
Fairfield Osborn,
ex-officio
ex-officio
John Elliott
Alfred Ely
Robert G. Goelet
DeForest Grant
Warren Kinney
Cornelius R, Agnew
Fred Archer
Christopher W. Coates
Percy Chubb, 2nd
Alfred Ely
Leonard J. Goss
Warren Kinney
Eben Pyne
Herbert F. Schiemann
John Tee -Van
81
COMMITTEES OF THE SOCIETY
NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
E . Roland Harriman, Chairman
William M. Chadbourne Samuel Thome
FINANCE COMMITTEE
David H. McAlpin, Chairman
Cornelius R. Agnew, Fairfield Osborn,
ex-officio ex-officio
DeForest Grant John Schiff
AUDITING COMMITTEE
Percy Chubb, 2nd, Chairman
C. Suydam Cutting Fairfield Osborn,
William DeForest Manice ex-officio
Harold J0 OfConnell, J0 Watson Webb
ex-officio
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
James W. Atz
William Beebe
William Bridges
Christopher W. C
Fairfield Osborn,
tes
Chairman
Lee S. Crandall
Leonard J. Goss
James A. Oliver
John Tee -Van
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COUNCIL
A. Raymond Dochez
Alfred Emerson
W0 A„ Hagan
Caryl P. Haskins
K. S, Lashley
John S. Nicholas
HEADS AND HORNS COMMITTEE
Alfred Ely, Chairman
Laurance S. Rockefeller F„ Carrington Weems
Samuel B„ Webb
82
STAFF
John Tee-Van, Director
Leonard J. Goss, Assistant Director
ZOOLOGICAL PARK
Robert M. McClung, Acting Curator, Mammals & Birds
Grace Davall, Assistant Curator, Mammals & Birds
James A. Oliver, Curator, Reptiles
Leonard J. Goss, Veterinarian
Charles P. Gandal, Assistant Veterinarian
Gordon Cuyler, Administrative Assistant
Herbert J. Knobloch, Assistant Curator, Education
John V. Quaranta, Research Associate, Animal Behavior
Quentin Melling Schubert,
Superintendent, Construction & Maintenance
Edward Kearney, Manager, Facilities Department
Lee S0 Crandall, General Curator Emeritus
William Beebe, Honorary Curator , Birds
AQUARIUM
Christopher W. Coates, Curator & Aquarist
James W. Atz, Assistant Curator
Ross F. Nigrelli, Pathologist
Myron Gordon, Geneticist-
C. M. Breder, Jr., Research Associate in Ichthyology
Homer W. Smith, Research Associate in Physiology
DEPARTMENT OF TROPICAL RESEARCH
William Beebe, Director Emeritus
Jocelyn Crane, Assistant Director
Henry Fleming, Entomologist
William K. Gregory, Associate
John Tee-Van, Associate
83
GENERAL
Herbert F. Schiemann, Comptroller
William Bridges, Editor & Curator, Publications
Dorothy Reville, Editorial Assistant
Sam Dunton, Photographer
AFFILIATE
CONSERVATION FOUNDATION
President
Fairfield Osbora
Executive Vice-president
Samuel H. Ordway, Jr.
Vice-presidents
George E. Brewer, Jr. A. William Smith
Donald T. Carlisle Robert G. Snider
Stephen W. Bergen
John C. Gibbs
Staff
Hugh J. Ross
Peter M. Stern
84
BY-LAWS OF THE
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
ARTICLE I • Members
Section 1. The present members and such others as hereafter shall become
members in accordance with these by-laws shall be the members of this Society.
Sec. 2. Annual, contributing and school members shall be elected by the
Board or Executive Committee and, upon election, shall qualify for such mem-
bership by payment of dues for the first year commencing on the date of their
election. No organizations other than schools shall be eligible as such for Society
membership.
Sec. 3. Annual dues of annual members shall be $15, and of contributing
and school members $25. Any person who shall fail to qualify within three
months after his election shall be deemed to have declined his election.
Sec. 4. Any member who shall fail to pay his annual dues within three
months after notice that they have become due and demand therefor, shall cease
to be a member of the Society. He may, however, be reinstated by the Board or
Executive Committee for good cause shown.
Sec. 5. Any person who shall have donated to the Society, in the aggregate,
cash or the equivalent in value of any of the following amounts shall be eligible
for election, by the Board or Executive Committee, to the class of membership
appearing, opposite such amount:
$ 300.00 Life Membership $ 5,000.00 Founder
$1,000.00 Patron $10,000.00 Founder in Perpetuity
$2,500.00 Associate Founder $25,000.00 Benefactor
An annual member who has paid dues for five consecutive years and a con-
tributing or school member who has paid dues for three consecutive years, may
thereafter, at any time, upon payment of the difference between the aggregate
dues already paid and $300, but in no case less than $100, be elected a Life
Member. Upon the death of a trustee, his widow shall be eligible for election,
by the Board or Executive Committee, to Life Membership.
Sec. 6. The Board or Executive Committee may elect to membership in the
following classes persons who, in their judgment, have achieved the qualifica-
tions hereinafter specified:
Fellows:— Persons of marked scientific achievement.
Honorary Members:— Persons who have rendered distinguished services in
the science of zoology or natural history.
Corresponding Members:— Persons who have rendered marked services to
the Society through correspondence.
Sec. 7. All but annual, contributing and school members shall be exempt
from payment of annual dues.
Sec. 8. Benefactors and Founders in Perpetuity shall have the power to
designate their respective successors, who shall thereupon be entitled to all the
rights and privileges of their predecessors, including the right in turn to desig-
85
nate their successors. Such designation shall be in writing indorsed or attached
to the certificate of membership or by last will and testament.
ARTICLE II • Privileges of Members
Section 1. Each annual, contributing and school member shall be entitled
to a member's ticket, ten tickets of admission to the Zoological Park and Aquar-
ium on pay days, a copy of the annual report, a copy of the official periodical
publication of the Society, and shall be entitled also to the privileges of the
Library and Administration Building at the Zoological Park.
Sec. 2. Life Members shall be entitled to all the privileges of annual mem-
bers and also to ten additional tickets of admission to the Zoological Park and
Aquarium on pay days.
Sec. 3. Benefactors, Founders in Perpetuity, Founders, Associate Founders
and Patrons shall be entitled to all the privileges of Life Members and also to
receive the Society's scientific publication "Zoologica."
Sec. 4. A member's ticket, issued annually, shall admit the member and his
immediate family to the Zoological Park and Aquarium on pay days and to
lectures and special exhibitions. It may be used by the member's immediate
family.
Sec. 5. Each member, other than a member elected pursuant to Article I,
Section 6, shall be entitled to one vote at each meeting of the Society.
Sec. 6. Any member who shall fail to comply with the provisions of these
by-laws may be suspended from the privileges of membership or dropped from
the rolls of the Society, by a majority vote of those present at a duly consti-
tuted meeting of the Board or Executive Committee.
ARTICLE III • Meetings of the Society
Section 1. The Annual Meeting of the Society shall be held on the first
Tuesday in March in each year, or on such day thereafter and at such time and
place as may be designated by the Board or Executive Committee.
Sec. 2. Special Meetings of the Society may be called upon order of the
President or Chairman of the Executive Committee or on the written request
of ten Trustees delivered to the Secretary.
Sec. 3. Notice of each annual or special meeting of the Society, stating the
time, place and purpose thereof, shall be mailed, at least ten days before an
annual and three days before a special meeting, to each member at his address
last recorded with the Secretary.
Sec. 4. At all meetings of the Society twenty members shall constitute a
quorum.
ARTICLE IV • Board of Trustees
Section 1. The property, affairs and business of the Society shall be man-
aged and controlled by a Board of Trustees consisting of thirty-six members
86
divided into tnree equal classes, together with the Mayor and the Commissioner
of Parks of the City of New York who shall be members ex officio of the Board.
Each class of elected trustees shall hold office for three years and until its suc-
cessors are elected. The term of office of one class shall expire each year and
its successor shall be elected at the annual meeting of the Society.
Sec. 2. No person shall be eligible for election to the Board unless he shall
be either a Benefactor, Founder in Perpetuity, Founder, Associate Founder,
Patron or Life Member and, excepting to fill vacancies, unless his name shall
have been posted as a candidate by the Nominating Committee or by not less
than ten members in writing in a conspicuous place in the office of the Society
not less than ten days before the annual meeting.
Sec. 3. Vacancies in the Board may be filled for the unexpired term by the
Board or Executive Committee at any regular or special meeting, by ballot, by a
majority vote of the members present; but no person shall be eligible for elec-
tion to fill a vacancy unless he shall have been nominated at a prior or special
meeting of the Board or Executive Committee.
Sec. 4. The Board shall hold an annual meeting in December in each year,
on a date and at a time and place designated by the Board or Executive Com-
mittee. Other meetings of the Board may be called upon order of the President
or Chairman of the Executive Committee or at the written request of five
Trustees delivered to the Secretary. Twelve Trustees shall constitute a quorum.
Sec. 5. Notice of each meeting of the Board shall be mailed to each Trustee
at least seven days before the annual meeting and at least three days before
any other meeting.
Sec. 6. A Trustee who shall fail to attend three consecutive meetings of the
Board, without being excused by the Board, shall be deemed to have resigned
as a Trustee.
Sec. 7. The Board at its annual meeting in each year shall appoint three
standing committees — an Executive Committee, a Finance Committee and an
Auditing Committee — each of which shall serve for one year, or until its suc-
cessors are appointed. The Board or Executive Committee may appoint such
other Committees and delegate to them such powers as they may deem advisable
or necessary. The President shall designate the Chairman of each committee.
ARTICLE V • Officers
Section 1. The Board of Trustees at its Annual Meeting in each year shall
elect a President, a First Vice President, a Second Vice President, a Treasurer
and a Secretary from among the Trustees. The said officers shall hold office
respectively for the ensuing year and until their successors are elected. Any
vacancy for an unexpired term may be filled by the Board or Executive
Committee.
Sec. 2. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society and of the
Board, exercise general supervision of the affairs of the Society, from time to
time call attention of the Board to such subjects as in his opinion require con-
sideration and shall exercise the usual functions pertaining to his office. He shall
be a member ex officio of all standing committees.
87
Sec. 3. The Vice Presidents, in order of seniority, in case of death, absence,
resignation or disability of the President shall perform his duties and exercise
his powers.
Sec. 4. The Treasurer shall collect, receive and have custody of the funds
and securities of the Society subject to the order of the Board or Executive
Committee and shall keep all funds of the Society on deposit with a bank or
trust company approved by the Board or Executive Committee. He shall pay
all bills and appropriations as ordered by the Board or Executive Committee,
shall keep regular and correct accounts and shall submit reports to the Society
at its Annual Meeting, to the Board at all Regular Meetings and to the Executive
Committee at each meeting. He shall be a member ex officio of the Executive
Committee. The books of account of the Society shall be open at all times to the
inspection of the Trustees and the Executive, Finance and Auditing Commit-
tees. The fiscal year of the Society shall be the calendar year.
Sec. 5. The Secretary, unless otherwise ordered by the Board or Executive
Committee, shall cause notices to be issued of all meetings of the Society, the
Board and the Executive Committee, attend all such meetings and keep the
minutes thereof. Together with the President or a Vice President he shall exe-
cute all contracts and instruments on behalf of the Society, and shall affix the
seal of the Society when authorized to do so by the Board or Executive Com-
mittee. He shall conduct the correspondence of the Society, have custody of the
seal, archives and books, other than books of account, and perform the usual
duties pertaining to his office and such other duties as the Board or Executive
Committee may direct. He shall be a member ex officio of the Executive Com-
mittee.
Sec. 6. The Board or Executive Committee may appoint an Assistant Treas-
urer or an Assistant Secretary and such other officers or officials as may be
deemed necessary to serve at the pleasure of the Board or Executive Committee,
and may define their respective duties. A bank or trust company organized under
the laws of New York and having its principal place of business in New York
City may be appointed Assistant Treasurer and may be made depositary of the
funds and custodian of the securities and investments of the Society upon such
terms and with such powers as may be delegated to it by the Board or Executive
Committee.
ARTICLE VI • Committees
Section 1. Executive Committee — This Committee shall consist of eight
Trustees, together with the President, Treasurer and Secretary as members
ex officio. Vacancies shall be filled by the Board or by the Committee itself.
In the interim between meetings of the Board, the Executive Committee shall
manage and control the property, business and affairs of the Society and exercise
all the powers of the Board to the extent not delegated to other Committees or
contrary to law. It shall report at each regular meeting of the Board.
Regular meetings of the Executive Committee shall be held on the third
Tuesday in each month, unless otherwise ordered by the Chairman, at such
time and place as shall be fixed by the Chairman. Special meetings may be
called upon order of the Chairman or at the written request of three members
of the Committee delivered to the Secretary. Four members including the
Chairman shall constitute a quorum.
The Executive Committee shall appoint each year a Nominating Committee
88
which shall hold office for one year and until its successors are appointed.
The Executive Committee shall have power to fix the salaries of the officers
and employees of the Society.
Sec. 2. Finance Committee — This Committee shall consist of not less than
three Trustees and the Treasurer as members ex officio. Vacancies therein shall
be filled by the Board or Executive Committee.
The Finance Committee shall have power to sell securities and other invest-
ments belonging to the Society and to reinvest proceeds of sale and invest any
other funds of the Society available for investment, in such securities or invest-
ments as it may deem wise. It shall report quarterly to the Executive Commit-
tee all purchases and sales of securities and investments made by it. It may
submit to the Board or Executive Committee its recommendations with regard
to sales or purchases of securities or other investments.
Notwithstanding the power hereby conferred, the Board or Executive Com-
mittee may, at any time, direct the sale of any securities and investments held
by the Society, or direct the reinvestment of any proceeds of sale or investment
of other funds of the Society available for investment in such securities or
investments as it may specify.
All transfers and assignments of the securities registered or standing in the
name of the Society shall be executed under the seal of the Society by the
President or a Vice President, together with the Secretary or Treasurer.
The report of the Chairman of the Finance Committee shall be sufficient
authority to the Chairman of the Executive Committee for approving drafts for
purchases of securities or investments.
Sec. 3. Auditing Committee — This Committee shall consist of three mem-
bers, other than members elected pursuant to Article I, Section 6, together with
the President and the Secretary as members ex officio. Vacancies therein shall be
filled by the Board or Executive Committee.
The Auditing Committee shall cause the accounts of the Treasurer and any
other accounts of the Society to be audited and certified annually, or as often as
it deems advisable, by a certified public accountant of its selection and shall
report to the Board at its annual meeting. It shall cause the annual statement
of the Treasurer to be audited and certified by such certified public accountant
before it is submitted to the Board, and shall annually, or as often as it deems
advisable, examine and verify the securities and other investments belonging to
the Society.
Sec. 4. Nominating Committee — This Committee shall be composed of
three members other than Trustees and members elected pursuant to Article I,
Section 6. Vacancies therein shall be filled by the Executive Committee. This
Committee shall select twelve candidates, to succeed the outgoing class of
Trustees, to be voted upon at the ensuing annual meeting. Such candidates
shall be selected from among the Benefactors, Founders in Perpetuity, Founders,
Associate Founders, Patrons and Life Members of the Society. The names of
such candidates shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the office of the Society
at least ten days before the annual meeting.
ARTICLE VII • Amendments
Section 1. These By-Laws may be amended, either by change or repeal
of any provision or the adoption of new provisions, at any meeting of the Board
by majority vote of the Trustees present, provided such proposed amendment is
set forth in full in the notice of such meeting.
89
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